Giant Icebergs Break Free, Threaten Ocean Currents and Oxygen Levels

From Treehugger:

A giant iceberg in the southern Atlantic. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

On February 12 or 13, a truly mammoth iceberg broke free from the Mertz Glacier Tongue. The 985 square-mile block of ice is roughly the size of Luxembourg and, at 1300 feet thick, would fill Sydney Harbor more than 100 times. The block was dislodged by another large iceberg—known as B9B—which cleaved in 1987.

Now drifting together in the Southern Ocean, the icebergs are threatening—researchers report—to cap an important region responsible for driving the world's ocean currents.

Article continues: Giant Icebergs Break Free, Threaten Ocean Currents and Oxygen Levels