The A-68 iceberg adrift: it’s on a collision course with an island full of penguins, birds and seals



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The A-68 iceberg is bigger than Singapore or Luxembourg. An urgent mission of scientists is being prepared – Ansa /CorriereTv
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Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey program are preparing for an urgent mission to the world’s largest iceberg. According to The Guardian, researchers plan to fly to the Falklands on January 11, quarantine to make sure they are free of the new coronavirus, and then embark on a three-day trip to the iceberg aboard the ship. RRS researcher James Cook. The huge mass of ice broke off Antarctica’s Larsen C shelf in July 2017. It glided through the open ocean for more than two years, until it encountered the Circumpolar Current that circles the continent. At 4,200 square kilometers, the A-68 iceberg (larger than Singapore or Luxembourg) has embarked on a slow journey toward potential disaster. You’re heading to an Antarctic island teeming with wildlife, including millions of birds, seals, and penguins. The island of South Georgia could be reached in a few days destroying its underwater life. Or stay on his side, stay there for more than ten years before melting away. This could prevent some of the island’s 2 million penguins from reaching the water to feed their young. Freshwater thawing could also make the waters inhospitable to phytoplankton and other creatures in the food chain. Antarctica is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth. Temperatures at the South Pole have risen three times the world average over the past three decades.

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