A massive Antarctic iceberg the size of a small country is heading for the island of South Georgia with concerns it could disrupt the British territory’s economy and its wildlife.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands/Population
30
2006
Hmm, yes, we might be able to deal with that disruption.
Why don’t the inhabitants tow it to a part of the world that’s suffering a water shortage and sell it? I mean, with Evian selling at 60p a litre, it must be worth a few quid.
I expect the BBC to be headlining this story as another reason we should strive to avoid a no-deal Brexit
The ginger man dun it
“Small Country”
Well that’s no bloody use as a measurement.
In Imperial measures, it is how many Waleses big and
In metric how many Luxemburgs ?
It was a Luxemburg when it broke away in 2017. It’s now about 3/4ish of that based on the article. The quote about it having lasted longer than expected made me chuckle.
Ultra low speed train wreck.
‘The thin profile of the iceberg, which has been monitored by satellites, may make it more liable to float closer to South Georgia before getting stuck on the ocean floor.’
Guardian, still packing too much into sentences. Tell us about satellite monitoring elsewhere. Else we believe the thin profile has been monitored. But ‘before getting stuck’ says they are referring to the depth of the berg, not width and length. Which raises the question, “How can you monitor depth from a satellite?”
Best solution is for Guardian to quit trying to write about science.
“How can you monitor depth from a satellite?”
Not too difficult to get a reasonable estimation.
Density of ice and sea water are known pretty accurately. Knowing how big it is above the water, means you can calculate how much must be under the water.
You’re not going to get it to within a mm, but a rough guide after making some reasonable assumptions is doable.
Doesn’t ice melt when it moves into warmer waters? And isn’t Southern Hemisphere going into Winter?
Of course the sub-text here is aaaarrrrggg! Climate change. Worse than we thought!
As I recall South Georgia has no human population
Just a rotating group of scientists at a number of locations
So zero population and zero GDP, unless you lump them in with the Falkland Islands
I would have thought fish, birds, whales etc can simply avoid the iceberg which is racing across the southern ocean at what, half a knot?
WTAF?
Impact on the economy? WHAT ECONOMY? The whaling stations closed a long time ago. The BAS has people there, but that is hardly economic. Before COVID, the occasional cruise ship visited, but for them. a grounded giant iceberg would be a bonus, unless it actually engulfed the old whaling station….
As for wildlife, I am sure that penguins and seals have dealt with icebergs before….
Make [Prince] Harry Resident Governor of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Then ship all the UK illegal immigrants there to help him
That will fix it
“Knowing how big it is above the water, means you can calculate how much must be under the water.”
Clever. That could work. Or they are just full of shit (my pick).