Climate change SHOCK: Crumbling icebergs are actually SLOWING global warming

GIANT icebergs may actually be slowing down global warming, scientists have claimed.

Icebergs are apparently slowing global warmingGETTY
Icebergs are apparently slowing global warming
Research has proven the huge glacial masses in Antarctica – some of which are as big as Manhattan – are in fact slowing climate change as they break apart.
Experts suggest when the massive icebergs crumble, they release vast amounts of nutrients such as iron which help algae and other organisms reproduce in the surrounding ocean.

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A boat travels through Antarctic waters
These minuscule beings extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus reducing the pace of global warming.
The study conducted by members of the University of Sheffield found these ocean blooms are reducing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by between 10 and 40 million tons a year, similar to how much greenhouse emissions a country like New Zealand produces.
algaeGetty
Algae in a London river
It had previously been thought this effect remains local, but Professor Grant Bigg, a joint author of the study, said: “We were very surprised to find that the impact can extend up to 1,000 kilometres.”
The team used satellites to study mages of 17 giant icebergs – of which there are typically 30 at any time – from 2003 to 2013 and noted the water becomes greener for hundreds of miles as it becomes littered with algae.
It is thought that manmade greenhouse emissions grow by around two per cent a year, but it would be worse without the algae, according to the results published in Nature Geoscience.
crumbling icebergGetty
As icebergs crumble, they release nutrients
Professor Bigg: “If the giant icebergs weren't there, it would be 2.1 to 2.2 per cent.”
Furthermore, the study found, as the oceans get warmer, the algae could reproduce at a more rapid rate, essentially slowing global warming even more.
Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientist at Greenpeace UK, said: “Ice melting has a big positive feedback – it means we warm faster because we have less ice reflecting sunshine. This new study shows it may also have a significant negative feedback, with algal blooms sequestering carbon. 
“Neither of these effects come close to dominating the climate impact of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, and whilst it's important for us to study all of these impacts, to better understand the climate system and the changes we’re making to it, we should remember we’re a long way behind where we should be in cutting emissions, otherwise we wouldn’t be witnessing these feedbacks at all.”

Antarctica: Ice age the frozen world

Wed, November 4, 2015

Antarctica, the southernmost continent and site of the South Pole. Most cruises to the continent visit the Antarctic Peninsula, which stretches toward South America where you will find Port Lockroy, a former British research station turned museum.

Icebergs in Antarctica
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Icebergs in Antarctica

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