Did an exceptional iceberg sink the Titanic?

Credit: Navigation Center, United States Coast Guard

The iceberg thought to have been hit by Titanic, photographed
by the chief steward of the liner Prinz Adalbert on the morning
of 15 April 1912. The iceberg was reported to have a streak of 
red paint from a ship's hull along its waterline on one side.

One of the most popular disasters of the early 20th Century is the sinking of the unsinkable Titanic, a story featured in books, movies and real life.  Here's a little additional information about the probable cause with a warning of similar disasters to come.

The suggested reading below is a book that details nine disasters - a source of possible stories to develop similar to the Titanic sinking.

Suggested reading
click on image for
more information
While the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is typically blamed on human, design and construction errors, a new Significance paper points to two other unfavorable factors outside human control: there were a greater number of icebergs than normal that year, and weather conditions had driven them further south, and earlier in the year, than was usual.

The paper also notes that iceberg discharge from glaciers is increasing, with more heavy iceberg years since the 1980s than before, and increasing global warming will likely cause this trend to continue.

"As use of the Arctic increases in the future with declining sea-ice, and as polar ice sheets are increasingly losing mass as well, the iceberg risk is likely to increase in the future, rather than decline," said co-author Professor Grant Bigg.
*  *  *  *  *

Story Source: Materials provided by Wiley. Grant Bigg, Steve Billings. The iceberg risk in theTitanicyear of 1912: Was it exceptional? Significance, 2014

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