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The largest iceberg in the world could threaten a remote island in the South Atlantic that serves as a refuge for thousands of penguins and seals, who would no longer be able to eat properly, scientists have warned.
Global warming has caused the separation of Antarctic icebergs, such as the A68, a giant mass of one billion tons that separated in 2017 from the Larsen C glacier shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula.
With the speed at which you travel, it will take 20 to 30 days to reach the shallow waters surrounding South Georgia, an island under British sovereignty.
160 kilometers long, 48 meters wide but less than 200 meters high, the iceberg can come dangerously close to the coast of the island. with a 50% chance of a collision, British scientist Andrew Fleming, who monitors Antarctica, told AFP news agency.
The scenario would endanger the lives of several thousand penguins, seals and albatrosses. If the iceberg gets too close to the island, it could compromise the animals’ ability to feed their young, who, like baby seals, will be threatened.
It could also compromise the ecosystem of the seabed, which could take decades or centuries to recover. “This iceberg has been accumulating nutrients and dust for hundreds of years which are gradually released and fertilize the oceans,” he said.
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