City-Sized Iceberg Poses Shipping Danger
- 10 years ago
Scientists are keeping tabs on a city-sized iceberg for fear that it will cause problems in shipping lanes.
Scientists are keeping tabs on a city-sized iceberg for fear that it will cause problems in shipping lanes.
The icy mass has an estimated area of over 250 square miles, making it about the size of Singapore and twice as big as Atlanta.
It’s believed it could be as much as a third of a mile thick.
The massive piece broke free from an Antarctic glacier and has moved about a mile since July.
It’s left the confines of Pine Island Bay in West Antarctica, and there’s a chance it could end up heading towards South America.
The fear is that it will end up floating into a major shipping route.
Given the berg’s size, it would take a year or more to melt.
Keeping an eye on it as it travels is of great importance, and scientists from universities in both Sheffield and Southampton are using satellite data to do so.
What could make the job difficult are the weeks of darkness that occur during the Antarctic winter, which is also a crucial time in anticipating the path of the ice island.
Scientists are keeping tabs on a city-sized iceberg for fear that it will cause problems in shipping lanes.
The icy mass has an estimated area of over 250 square miles, making it about the size of Singapore and twice as big as Atlanta.
It’s believed it could be as much as a third of a mile thick.
The massive piece broke free from an Antarctic glacier and has moved about a mile since July.
It’s left the confines of Pine Island Bay in West Antarctica, and there’s a chance it could end up heading towards South America.
The fear is that it will end up floating into a major shipping route.
Given the berg’s size, it would take a year or more to melt.
Keeping an eye on it as it travels is of great importance, and scientists from universities in both Sheffield and Southampton are using satellite data to do so.
What could make the job difficult are the weeks of darkness that occur during the Antarctic winter, which is also a crucial time in anticipating the path of the ice island.