World’s biggest iceberg runs aground after a near-40-year journey from Antarctica | Environment
It seems that the largest iceberg in the world ran about 70 km (43 miles) from the remote control Antarctica The Research Organization said on Tuesday that the island, which is likely to avoid the decisive wildlife haven from beating.
The huge iceberg A23A – which has a length of about 3,300 square kilometers and weighs about 1 Tont Finn – is drifting north of the Antarctic continent towards the island of southern Georgia since 2020.
This raised concerns that the island can collide or run in shallow waters near it, which may disrupt the ability of the capacity Penguins and seals To feed their young.
It is still unclear whether the ice mountain is stuck forever. “It will be interesting to see what will happen now,” said Andrew Megarez, an ocean photographer in the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
The giant snow wall has been suspended 73 km from the island since March 1, according to a statement issued by BAS. “If the ice mountain remains on the ground, we do not expect to significantly affect the local wildlife,” said Megarers.
Meijers, who faced A23A in late 2023, added, “In the past few decades, Megirz, who faced A23A in late 2023, has been separated and followed his fate via the satellite since then,” Meijers, who faced A23A in late 2023.
The largest and oldest iceberg in the world of Antarctica Raf in 1986.
She remained stuck for more than 30 years before finally liberated in 2020, when the wood journey was sometimes late due to the ocean forces that kept them in place.
The satellite images had previously suggested that it had not collapsed in smaller pieces along the familiar path that such ice mountains took. However, a 19 km length piece exploded in January.
There were fears of wildlife on the crucial reproductive land of South Georgia if the icebergs approached. This would force animals like penguins and seals to travel far further to turn around the massive mass of ice.
“This can reduce the amount of food that belongs to the puppies and chicks on the island, and thus increases the deaths,” Meijers said.
But in its current location, Iceberg can provide benefits for wildlife.
Moving the nutrients from the ground [of the iceberg] Megrez said that his melting may enhance the availability of food for the entire regional ecosystems, including penguins and charismatic seals.
Along with the nearby South Sandwich Islands, south of Georgia is home to about 5 meters seals and 65 meters of birds of 30 different types.
Megarers told AFP in January that the seals of the island and firearms had already had a “bad season” due to the outbreak of bird flu.
Ice does not pose any threat to shipment. It is very huge so that the ships can easily avoid it.
However, with its extinction to smaller pieces, some areas can become outside the boundaries of commercial fishing vessels “due to the number of smaller bits – but often more dangerous -“.
There are no permanent residents in southern Georgia, which is run by the United Kingdom as a British region abroad.
Argentina also claims Al -Jazira – along with Falklands to the West, which is called Las Malinas.
Ice mountains of this size are rare but not heard. Mejir said that there have been two similar sizes in the same area over the past five years.
Megarers said that such huge ice mountains are “a completely natural part of the life cycle” of the iceboards in Antarctica.
He added that the ice shelves have lost 6000 billion tons of mass since 2000, which are compatible with the acceleration of ice loss attributed to climate change.
The researchers warned last month that a The high temperature of the planet Between 1.5 and 2.0 ° C above pre -industrial levels can melt enough frozen water to lift the oceans by ten meters – and outside the point of no return.
Last year – which broke the previous heat records as the world was beaten by fires, floods and storms – it was the first evaluation year exceeding 1.5C.
