Could deprive regions of the globe of oxygen
For the worried scientists, the newly formed iceberg could potentially disrupt the undersea currents that ferry oxygen throughout the oceans. With that oxygen dispersal interrupted, areas of the ocean could fail to receive the oxygen needed to support life.
“There may be regions of the world’s oceans that lose oxygen, and then of course most of the life there will die,” Mario Hoppema, chemical oceanographer at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, told the Associated Press.
However, on the bright side, Michael Meredith of the British Antarctic Survey told the BBC that the new iceberg probably isn’t large enough to effect global climate patterns.
Instead, Meredith noted that the reconfiguration of Antarctic geography created a virtual laboratory where scientists can monitor how iceberg separation affects ocean ecosystems.
[BBC]
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