Global warming news: 15 ships trapped in Lake Superior ice

Of course by now, according to Al Gore, the North Pole was supposed to have melted. However, there is this pesky ice problem right now in Lake Superior.

From the Detroit News:

U.S. Coast Guard officials, saying the "proverbial drain is clogged," are hoping to plow through unseasonable Lake Superior ice Wednesday that has tied up 15 ships and halted travel.

A Canadian icebreaker from Quebec is set to join other American vessels already working to unblock a path for the 15 ships heading to various ports that have been in a holding pattern — some since Sunday, said Mark Gill, director of vessel traffic services for the U.S. Coast Guard at Sault Ste. Marie.

"They're just waiting ... for us to get a track through it," he said Tuesday.

It's rare to see this much ice at Whitefish Bay — on eastern Lake Superior between Michigan and Ontario — in a shipping season that officially started late last month, Gill said. The navigational lock complex at Sault Ste. Marie opened March 25 after being closed since mid-January for routine maintenance.

Reuters has some fabulous aerial view pics of the trapped ships.