Icebergs
Not only does this category say something about the use of Rhode Island as a unit of measure, it also supplies ample fodder for the global warming/sky is falling crowd. Funny thing is, if the ice caps do melt, Rhode Island will shrink, perhaps disappearing altogether. What'll we use to measure really big things then?
Curious about the iceberg situation today, he started researching and found himself looking at an Antarctic iceberg the size of Rhode Island, which was broken off when the Mertz Ice Tongue was bumped by another iceberg the size of Luxembourg.
—Los Angeles Times, "Titanic today might dodge better but would encounter more icebergs," by Dean Kuipers, April 3, 2012. Submitted by Amelia, Providence ("Luxembourg [is] another popular unit of measurement I absolutely cannot imagine," she notes, "because, well, who can picture Luxembourg anyway? The readers of the LA Times, I guess).
The state of Alaska itself is like one big whale. Chunks of ice the size of Rhode Island exist like barnacles.
—"Light Pollution" from How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley, 2010. Submitted by Christina, Seattle, Washington ("A state," she notes, "that could fit about sixty-nine Rhode Islands).
Jack Hall: Our climate is fragile. The ice caps are disappearing at a dangerous rate.—The Day After Tomorrow, 2004.
Vice President Becker: Professor, um, Hall, our economy is every bit as fragile as the environment. Perhaps you should keep that in mind before making sensational claims.
Jack Hall: Well, the last chunk of ice that broke off was about the size of the state of Rhode Island. Some people might call that pretty sensational.
Despite the comparisons in size, the Cigar believes that we have to show the similarities and differences of the ice shelf and the Ocean State beyond just their size. Fact: Rhode Island is much taller than the ice shelf... Fact: The ice shelf has a lot more shoreline than Rhode Island... Fact: Rhode Island has a significantly larger population than the iceberg... Fact: Del's Lemonade is made of ice and Del's Lemonade was first made in Rhode Island.
—The Good 5¢ Cigar, "The Ocean State vs. the state in the ocean: Rammed by Rhode Island?," March 26, 2002.
[A] Rhode Island-size piece of the floating ice fringe along a fast-warming region of Antarctica" is the way Wednesday's New York Times described that rapidly disintegrating monster iceberg. Beyond America's borders, U.S. states aren't the most useful geographic points of reference. Britain's Times pegged the 1,250-square-mile ice shelf as the size of Cambridgeshire, while the Telegraph compared it to Somerset. For the Scotsman it was "larger than the Western Isles," and in New Zealand, the Christchurch Press put it at "five times the size of Lake Taupo." The Irish Times estimated that the sheet of ice was "bigger than counties Dublin and Meath." (How much bigger? The paper didn't say.) France's Libération said it was "equivalent to the area of Vaucluse, or of Yvelines and the Val-d'Oise combined." Spain's El Mundo cited "the province of Alava," and La Nación of Argentina put it at "17 times the size of the city of Buenos Aires.
—Slate, "An Ice Cube the Size of Cambridgeshire," by June Thomas, March 22, 2002.
Jon Stewart: Can you give us some insight on this collapse of this enormous Larsen B shelf?—The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, March 20, 2002.
Mo Rocca: Oh absolutely, Jon. The shelf that collapsed is twelve hundred and fifty square miles in area. That's approximately the size of the state of Rhode Island. Now to put that in perspective, imagine the state of Rhode Island. It's that size.
JS: Uh, Mo, for those who aren't familiar with Rhode Island, could you break it down, maybe a little different?
MR: Of course, Jon. Let me put this in layman's terms. Imagine the American cities of Pawtucket, Providence, Newport, Cumberland, and Woonsocket. Now imagine a land mass that encompasses all these cities.
JS: That's, uh, that's Rhode Island.
MR: Exactly.
JS: Is there any way for you to broaden our understanding independent of, let's say, comparison to Rhode Island?
MR: I'm sorry, Jon, I wish I could, but Rhode Island is the industry standard. Now if the ice shelf were really, really big I could, of course, use Texas, but generally it has to be one of those two.
The piece of ice that broke off was designated Larsen B, and was 650 feet thick and with a surface area of 1,250 square miles, or about the size of Rhode Island.
—Associated Press, "Antarctic ice shelf collapses," by Joseph B. Verrengia, March 19, 2002.
A new iceberg—one roughly twice the size of the state of Rhode Island—is adrift in the icy waters off Antarctica, the National Ice Center says.
—CNN.com, "New giant iceberg adrift near Antarctica," March 19, 2002.
Phillipe and Jorge hear a wonderful story about a friend and well-known scientist who was formerly at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography. National Geographic's last issue had a feature on the Antarctic, including a huge iceberg that had actually blocked a shipping route at the South Pole. The author of the story was in the Antarctic giving a presentation and described the berg as being, in the typical cliched analogy, "as big as Rhode Island." Our friend, who was visiting the pole at the time, went ballistic, telling the reporter to never use that expression again or she'd kick him or something. At another presentation a few days later, also attended by P&J's friend, the Geographic writer began describing the iceberg again, and when he got to the line "as big as...," he pointedly turned toward her and uttered, "as Delaware," saying it with a smile. The article on Antarctica and the iceberg eventually saw print, and sure enough, included the phrase "as big as Delaware." Our friend, as Groucho would say, was defending our honor, which is more than we ever do.
—The Providence Phoenix, "Phillipe and Jorge's Cool, Cool World," by Phillipe and Jorge, February 1, 2002. Submitted by Loring Holden.
Another significant iceberg calved around March 31 [2000]. Known as... B17, it is about 80 by 12 miles, or roughly the size of Rhode Island.
—kids.infoplease.lycos.com, "Icebergs Ahoy: A monster berg is on the loose," by Holly Hartman, (August 2000).
A U.S. research ship and a British Royal Air Force C-130 photographed an iceberg about the size of Rhode Island that's drifted in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica in August 1999, prompting the U.S. National Ice Center to issue an alert to shipping.
—USA Today, "Plane, ship photograph huge iceberg," May 10, 2000.
While few modern ships are likely to run into an iceberg the size of Rhode Island, like B-10A, they certainly could hit one of the thousands of smaller icebergs that break away from the main mass as it floats into warmer water.
—About.com, "The National Ice Center," by Robert Longley, September 15, 1999.
To retwist the most overused size comparison in all of journalism, it would be a very unfortunate sea captain who managed to run into a floating Rhode Island... Now, a whole bunch of pieces, none of which is anywhere near the size of Rhode Island (and so cannot be compared to anything sizewise) are bobbing around, the bulk of their potentially dangerous bulk below the surface and, in some cases, mere hints peeking above the water.
—ExploreZone.com, "Where two oceans meet, bergy bits and growlers lurk," by Robert Roy Britt, September 15, 1999.
The National Ice Center issued a warning Tuesday that an iceberg almost the size of Rhode Island threatens shipping in the ocean between South America and Antarctica.
—Associated Press, "Giant Iceberg Threatens Shipping," August 17, 1999. Submitted by Carol Cohen.
The iceberg, twice the size of Rhode Island, broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf along the Bay of Whales.
—Los Angeles Times, "Huge iceberg breaks free, alters the Antarctic map," by Lee Dye, November 6, 1997.
When icicles hang by the wall and blood is nipped and ways be foul, when the Great Lakes freeze into ice packs the size of Rhode Island and shipping is stilled, then folks in the Midwest are moved to fish through the ice, a curious, seasonal madness for which there is no known cure except spring.
—Time, "In Ohio: Rescue from an Icy Island," by Chris Redman, February 16, 1981..