A cave-like tunnel in northern Canada is a popular tourist attraction but now is shedding huge chunks of ice and may soon collapse. The Kluane ice cave is about 170 kilometres west of Whitehorse in the northwestern territory of Yukon.
Geologists think it was formed a few hundred years ago by water running under a glacier.
The Yukon Geological Survey has warned people to not walk under the huge arch because it shows serious instability and falling slabs may weigh hundreds of kilograms.
A reporter for the public broadcaster, CBC, hiked for 90 minutes to reach the arch and was recording his report just as “a large piece broke off with a thunderous crash.”
CBC reporter Philippe Morin was recording when a huge chunk fell off the Kluane ice cave. (Philippe Morin/CBC)
Glaciers and ice caps occupy 150,000 sq. km. in Canada’s Arctic and another 50,000 sq. km. in the Northern Cordillera region in western Canada. The government says it monitors them “primarily as indicators of climate change and for their contribution to regional and global sea-level changes.”
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