Another Massive Iceberg Makes an Entrance in Antarctica.

     As of the morning of February 26, a giant iceberg 20 times the size of Manhattan broke off from Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf. Scientists had been tracking the crack that causes the split since November 2020, and were not at all surprised or alarmed by its final break away. This "North Rift" crack was the third to form in the past decade. In January, the crack was recorded to grow northeast at an average rate of 0.6 miles per day, speeding up to widen by a few hundred meters in a couple of hours on the day it broke off. Currently, there is no direct evidence the split was caused by climate change. It is a completely natural process for icebergs to break off of ice shelves and the Brunt Ice Shelf routinely calves icebergs according to scientific study. This particular iceberg is very large however, and has a size of about 490 square miles, making this particular calving a rare and fascinating event. The Brunt Ice Shelf currently houses the BAS (British Antarctic Survey) Halley VI research station, which was thankfully unharmed in the splitting of the iceberg. This research station is home to a 12-person team of scientists who observe atmospheric and space weather during the Antarctic summer season (because of unpredictable iceberg split and the harsh winters of Antarctica making it hard to evacuate in times of emergency. Regardless, the BAS was able to track the shelf deformation through dozens of GPS monitors and satellite images.

    Personally, I enjoyed reading this article. For once it was a relief to hear that something natural happened without a direct correlation to climate change. The use of space technology to help in environmental study was also fascinating. If such tech can be used to track cracks in icebergs, it could also be used to track other environmental shifts such as earthquakes splits, or where land is being cleared. The article also mentioned the iceberg may move in the upcoming decades or choose to stay put. If it choose to move, an iceberg of that size could possible change the way the globe is drawn, though likely not by much. For the sake of the researchers I hope their research facility remains unharmed in the future, as relocation or reconstruction can be a rather costly affair, and the information the station provides is valuable to the study of our Earth. Overall, this iceberg formation was a rare and intriguing phenomenon that the scientific community was prepared for, and shouldn't cause to much concern in the ways of climate change or environmental harm.

https://www.livescience.com/brunt-ice-shelf-breaks-antarctica.html