Antarctica is a vast icy continent that appears completely motionless, but is moving sometimes worryingly. Blocks of ice larger than metropolises break off and sail aimlessly across the south of the planet.
This is the case of A23a, a huge iceberg that has been stuck on the seabed for three decades and recently started moving.
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The video of the colossal block of ice was proudly released by researchers from BAS (British Antarctic Survey, which manages British bases on the Antarctic continent).
A23a is also called the “megamountain” due to its colossal size at 3,990 km², it is about two and a half times larger than the city of São Paulo.
Its first movement occurred in 1986 when it broke away from the Filchner Ice Shelf.
But since then the iceberg remained relatively stable until it broke off at the end of November. In the coming months, it will follow what researchers call the “iceberg route” in the Southern Ocean. It is an event that until now was considered normal.
“It’s incredible to see this huge iceberg in person it stretches as far as the eye can see,” said Dr. Andrew Meijers, Scientific Director of the UK Polar Missions. As this is a unique and relatively rare event to be recorded, scientists will closely monitor the entire route of the A23a.
In addition to filming, researchers collected ice samples to try to capture records of accelerating climate change.
Penguins and glaciers are suffering from climate change in Antarctica.
Antarctica’s marine ecosystem is one of the largest on the planet in terms of biodiversity and one of the most threatened. Sea level rise threatens species like the Adélie penguin, which lives in Antarctica, one of the fastest warming places on the planet. In the last 50 years the temperature has risen by almost 3 degreesAlso read: A crack in Antarctica will release an iceberg twice the size of New York
Researchers from around the world say the impact of global warming on Antarctica is one of the most dramatic and requires drastic changes
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