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Delaware-Sized Iceberg Could Break Off of Antarctica at Any Moment

posted by n1 on Thursday July 06 2017, @09:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the breaking-the-ice dept.

takyon writes:

A deep crack on on Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf has nearly severed off one of the largest icebergs ever recorded:

One of the largest icebergs ever recorded — 2,500 square miles, about the size of Delaware — is about to break off Antarctica, according to the European Space Agency. The iceberg could speed up the break-off of other ice chunks, eventually eating away at a barrier that prevents ice from flowing to the sea.

The impending iceberg is being carved from one of the continent's major ice shelves, called Larsen C. Scientists have been monitoring Larsen C for months now, as a deep crack has slowly extended over the course of 120 miles. Only about three miles of ice are keeping the iceberg attached to the shelf, ESA says. No one knows when it will break off — it could be any moment — but when it does, the iceberg will likely be 620 feet thick (about the height of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York) and contain roughly 1 trillion tons of ice. It'll be drifting north toward South America, and could even reach the Falkland Islands. "If so it could pose a hazard for ships in Drake Passage," Anna Hogg from the University of Leeds, said in a statement.

Also at BBC.

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  • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday July 06 2017, @01:44PM

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Thursday July 06 2017, @01:44PM (#535709) Homepage Journal

    This thing has been in the news since 2015. Before I started my campaign. Folks, it's ice. It slides into the ocean, breaks off, floats around and melts. That's what it does. What it's doing isn't news. If it did something different, that would be news. But it's just doing its thing. It's just being ice. And it gets a lot, a lot of attention. The #MSM won't shut up about it. And here I am, trying to do important things. To make America great again. But the #MSM ignores me. Larsen C gets all the attention. Just melt already! I can't wait till it melts. Till we have a beautiful series of islands. I have it on good authority that Antarctica will be a series of islands. Perfect for a resort like Trump National Le Chateau des Palmiers. It's gonna be great. youtu.be/aMAxgNz5cxY 🇺🇸

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