00:00So there's been a lot of talk about A23A, it's had a somewhat unconventional life's
00:22history for an iceberg. I think the most recent thing people are talking about is when it
00:27broke free of the latest structure it was stuck in which was a rotating column which
00:30kept it fixed in the same place, it started moving very quickly in the direction of the
00:35island of South Georgia. The speed it was moving at and its sheer size means that if
00:47it was to ground on the shelf of the island it would have some consequences, it would
00:52cause a change because it's putting something that's about the same size of the island next
00:56to it that wasn't there before so that would disrupt the ecosystems in a way. This has
01:01happened now as of a few days ago and fortunately due to the timing the consequences maybe aren't
01:06as bad as people might have expected. The breeding season of most seals and penguins
01:11is now pretty much over so concerns that the iceberg would pose a massive obstacle to the
01:18parents being able to go and find food for the chicks and pups is less of a major concern.
01:37Where it's now stuck at least for now is in much warmer waters than where it's been before
01:41so we would expect this would massively accelerate the rate that the iceberg is melting and as
01:47it melts it's likely to break off into smaller chunks and shed lots of its surface area.
01:53For previous stone icebergs once they've got stuck near South Georgia that's been the last
01:57place that they'll be and they would melt from there but it's not impossible that the
02:00iceberg with a current in the right direction would become unstuck again and start moving
02:04so it can be hard to tell but it looks like this is heading towards the end for this iceberg.
02:23If you imagine a giant iceberg the one we're talking about is twice the size of Greater London,
02:27they're bigger than countries so they're massive chunks of ice that are moving through the ocean
02:31to places they weren't before so you're putting this massive expanse of a different material into
02:36a place that has not necessarily ever had that before so you're completely changing what's going on.
02:51So this could involve changes to the physics of how the water moves around the ocean
02:55especially in Antarctica where the melting of fresh water contributes to forming the deepest
03:01water in the world which spreads throughout the whole planet over time.
03:06Then when the ice is melting it isn't just water that's in the ice but it contains all kinds of
03:11sediments and materials and different ratios of nutrients that are also being released into
03:18the water which has a massive impact on life and this can allow different phytoplankton so
03:25the tiny plants in the ocean to grow and it provides different food sources for bigger
03:29things like krill and then penguins, seals and whales.
03:55you
Comments