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El gráfico muestra cómo podría el iceberg A-68A estar en trayectoria de colisionar con la Isla Georgia del Sur.
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AMBIENTE

El mayor iceberg del mundo está en curso de colisión con Georgia del Sur

By Ninian Carter

November 4, 2020 - El iceberg más grande del mundo está en curso de colisión con la Isla Georgia del Sur, un Territorio Británico de Ultramar, amenazando zonas de reproducción de elefantes marinos, lobos marinos y pingüinos rey.

Iceberg A-68A, which calved off the Larsen C Ice Shelf in 2017, has drifted 2,000 kilometres northeast and is now on a collision course with South Georgia Island, home to a delicate ecosystem that sustains seals, penguins and other rare birds.

The iceberg is the biggest in the world – roughly the same size as South Georgia Island (around 3,500 square kilometres) – and if it runs aground there, will disrupt breeding grounds by blocking normal foraging routes, preventing penguins and seals from feeding their young properly.

When the colossal A-38 iceberg grounded on the island in 2004, innumerable dead penguin chicks and seal pups were found on local beaches.

Additionally, all creatures living on the sea floor would be crushed where A-68A touches down - a disturbance that would take a very long time to reverse, especially as the iceberg could take 10 years to melt.

Satellite images suggest A-68A is on a direct path for South Georgia, but it could follow currents and loop around the south of the island, before spinning away to the northwest and eventually breaking up in warmer, more turbulent waters.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 05/11/2020; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Creative Commons
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