00:00 As our planet continues to warm, giant masses of ice continue to break off of the polar
00:07 ice caps in the form of giant icebergs.
00:10 Now the European Space Agency has developed a new GPS satellite tracking system, complete
00:14 with an AI neural network, all in the name of keeping track of these giant floating icebergs.
00:19 This is Dr. Bob Lucina, an oceanographer, to explain why tracking these calved icebergs
00:24 is so important.
00:25 So one of the big concerns about the ice sheets is that there could be some runaway effects.
00:32 So as calving of ice sheets becomes, increases in frequency, then that in itself could create
00:40 an acceleration of the ice sheet melt and further calving.
00:45 That's the more existential concern, where they say tracking in real time these calving
00:48 events would allow us to more easily see the point of no return with regards to the global
00:52 climate crisis.
00:53 But there are also other concerns as well.
00:56 Concerns regarding sea transit and communications around the world.
00:59 It's important to track icebergs in real time.
01:03 For a lot of that's for operational reasons.
01:07 So it affects shipping, it can be a danger to shipping.
01:11 There are other hazards such as the icebergs can often scrape the bottom actually in coastal
01:17 regions and our submarine cables, our communication lines are often dependent on.
01:23 Meanwhile, oceanographers also warn about the effects those icebergs have on the ecosystems
01:29 into which they float, melting and cooling large areas of ocean where they reside and
01:33 leaving a massive influx of fresh water in their wake.
01:36 With the experts saying the better we can track this, the better prepared we may be
01:40 to handle the fallout.
01:41 [Music]
01:45 (whooshing)
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