A23A: A giant iceberg on a collision course with an island

The largest ice santa in the world collides with remote British island, which potentially brings penguins and seals in danger.

Ice Santa turns north of Antarctica to southern Georgia, a violent British territory and a refuge of wildlife, where she could smash and break into pieces. It is currently 173 miles (280 km).

Countless birds and seals died in the ice bays and the beaches of southern Georgia when huge glaciers stopped them in the diet.

“Ice hills are dangerous by themselves. I would be extremely happy to miss us completely,” Maritime Captain Simon Wallace told BBC News, speaking from the Government ship Pharos southern Georgia.

Across the world, groups of scientists, sailors and fishermen are worriedly checked by satellite images to monitor the daily movement of this Queen Santa ice.

is known as A23A and is one of the oldest in the world.

He retired, or pushed away, from Filchner’s ice ridge in Antarctica in 1986, but stuck at the seabed and then trapped in the ocean vortex.

He finally released himself in December and is now on his last trip, rushing into oblivion.

Warm waters north of Antarctica melts and the weak of its huge side extending up to 1312 feet (400 m), more than Shard in London.

He used to measure 3,900 square kilometers, but the latest satellite images show that it is slowly decaying. It now extends to about 3500 square kilometers, which is approximately the size of the Cornwall English district.

And the large plates of the ice break, twisting in the water around his edges.

The A23a could break into the huge segments every day, which could then stay for years, like floating ice cities that crushed uncontrollably cruisers around southern Georgia.

This is not the first huge Santa ice to threaten southern Georgia and the sandwiches.

In 2004, one called A38 was stranded on his continental belt, leaving dead penguin chickens and beaches’ cubs while massive pieces of ice blocked access to feeding sites.

The territory is home to the precious colonies of royal penguins and millions of elephants and seasons.

“South Georgia is located in Santa ice alley, so influences on fisheries and wild animals can be expected, and both have a great ability to adapt,” says Mark Belchier, a marine ecologist who advises the government of southern Georgia.

Seafarers and fishermen say that icebergs are an increasing problem. In 2023. One named A76 scared them as he approached ground.

“The pieces were leaning, so they looked like big ice towers, an icy city on the horizon,” says Mr. Belchier, who saw the iceberg of ice while he was at sea.

These panels are still hovering around the islands today.

“There are several Wembley stadium in pieces to a piece of size of your table,” says Andrew Newman of Argos Froyanes, a fishing company working in southern Georgia.

“These parts basically covered the island – we have to break through it,” says Captain Wallace.

The sailors on his ship must constantly be on guard. “We have a spotlight all night to try to see the ice – it can come out of nowhere,” he explains.

The A76 was a “game change”, according to Mr. Newman, with “a great influence on our operations and the conservation of our ship’s safety and crew.”

All three describe the environment that changes quickly, with a visible withdrawal of glaciers from year to year and unstable levels of sea ice.

It is unlikely that climate change behind the birth of the A23A because it has been swollen so long ago, before most of the influence of the growing temperatures we see now.

But giant icebergs are part of our future. As Antarctic becomes more unstable with the warmer temperatures of the ocean and air, more and larger pieces of ice panels will be separated.

Before his time expires, A23a left the scientists a farewell gift.

The British Antarctic Survey team on Sir research Sir David Attenborough found itself near A23A 2023.

Scientists have tried to take advantage of a rare opportunity to explore what mega Santa ice make the environment.

The ship sailed into a crack in the huge walls of iceberg, and the doctor of science Laura Taylor collected valuable water samples 400 meters from his cliffs.

“I saw a massive ice wall far taller than me, as far as I could see. There are different colors in different places. The pieces were falling – it was quite magnificent,” explains from his Cambridge Laboratory, where there is now analyzing samples.

Her work is considering what influence of the melted water has on the carbon cycle in the southern ocean.

“This is not just the water we drink. It is full of nutrients and chemicals, as well as tiny animals like phytoplacton frozen inside,” says Mrs. Taylor.

As it dissolves, the ice of the ice drops these elements into the water, changing the physics and chemistry of the ocean.

This could store more carbon deep in the ocean, while the particles tone from the surface. This would naturally block some of the planetary emissions of carbon dioxide that contribute to climate change.

Santa ice are notoriously unpredictable and no one knows what exactly will do next.

But soon a giant, which is visible on the horizon of the island, should appear as a territory itself.