What happened in 1900?

This story from the AP today just confirmed the media scare tactics around global warming.

From the article:

TORONTO - A chunk of ice shelf nearly the size of Manhattan has broken away from Ellesmere Island in Canada's northern Arctic, another dramatic indication of how warmer temperatures are changing the polar frontier, scientists said Wednesday.

"The Markham Ice Shelf was a big surprise because it suddenly disappeared. We went under cloud for a bit during our research and when the weather cleared up, all of a sudden there was no more ice shelf. It was a shocking event that underscores the rapidity of changes taking place in the Arctic," said Muller.

Ellesmere Island was once entirely ringed by a single enormous ice shelf that broke up in the early 1900s. All that is left today are the four much smaller shelves that together cover little more than 299 square miles.

So what happened in 1900 that caused the ice to break apart? Was it natural? Maybe that is what we are seeing today? Of course the artcile does not go into detail about the events of the early 1900's, but I bet no one was screaming "global warming" back then.