This post is taken from IZULAT blog repost here
World’ biggest iceberg name “A68a” according to the news is headed in
collision toward the South Georgia island putting the wildlife in the island
particularly penguins there in great danger.
“The mass is now
moving straight toward a remote south Atlantic island populated by penguins and
seals. Scientists say a collision could cause a local, environmental
catastrophe. Iceberg A68a has been on a slow journey toward cataclysm. The mass
broke from the Antarctic peninsula’s Larsen C ice shelf in July 2017 and headed
slowly for the open ocean, sliding through the water for over two years until
it hit the powerful Antarctic Circumpolar Current circling the southernmost
continent. And then, like a speed skater, it was on its way. The current
propelled the berg on a fast track through what scientists call “iceberg
alley,” a northeast route traveled by chunks of ice that break from the
peninsula…. A68a broke off as a 5,800-square-kilometer mass….. It’s now headed
straight for South Georgia Island, a British overseas territory in the southern
Atlantic, where within days it could smash into the remote world teeming with
wildlife. “It is really, really close, less than 50 kilometers away,” making a
collision almost inevitable,…..” (Reuters)
“Scientists expect
the iceberg to grind over the seabed, crushing the island’s underwater life. If
the berg lodges at the island’s flank, it could remain a fixture for up to 10
years before the ice melts or breaks away, Tarling said. That could block some
of the island’s 2 million penguins – including King penguins, Gentoos,
Macaronis and Chinstraps – from reaching the waters to feed their young. The
melting freshwater could also make the waters inhospitable for phytoplankton
and other sea creatures that are crucial parts of the food chain. “There’s
nothing that’s really been that large before in scientific history that we’ve
seen coming up to South Georgia,”…. The iceberg is larger than 66 countries or
territories, including Singapore, Luxembourg and Brunei.”(Reuters)
“The iceberg is
comparable in size to many well-known islands. A68a is very similar in size and
shape to Jamaica, almost as long as the U.S. territory Puerto Rico, and dwarfs
China’s Hong Kong Island as well as the Southeast Asian city state of
Singapore. Observers from the British Antarctic Survey told media that a flight
last year over the A68a took about one and a half hours. The berg is so big,
Royal Air Force pilots this week were unable to capture it all in one, single
photograph.”(Reuters)
“An
enormous iceberg is heading toward South Georgia Island in the southern
Atlantic, where scientists say a collision could devastate wildlife by
threatening the food chain….. The gigantic iceberg - dubbed A68a - is on a path
to collide with South Georgia Island, a remote British overseas territory off
the southern tip of South America. Whether that collision is days or weeks away
is unclear, as the iceberg has sped up and slowed down with the ocean currents
along the way, said Geraint Tarling, a biological oceanographer with the
British Antarctic Survey who has been tracking the icy mass. A collision, while looking increasingly likely, could
still be avoided if the currents carry the iceberg past the island, Tarling
said. The currents "still have the
power to take this iceberg in one direction or another away from South
Georgia," Tarling said in an interview on Wednesday. "But it is
really, really close, less than 50 kilometers away from the south shelf edge.
That's getting so close that it's almost inevitable."”(SMH)
“Images captured by a British Royal Air Force aircraft show the
magnitude of the monstrous, 4,200-square-km iceberg, its surface carved with
tunnels, cracks and fissures. A number of smaller ice chunks can be seen
floating nearby. "The sheer size of the A68a iceberg
means it is impossible to capture its entirety in one single shot,"
British officials said in a statement. Still,
the berg is diminished from its original size of 5,800 square kms, measured
when the mass broke off from Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf 2-1/2 years
ago.”(SMH)
The main point : World’s biggest iceberg name “A68a” is headed toward
the South Georgia island that might endanger the wildlife in the island
particularly the many penguins there.
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