Iceberg, not only harmful?

Although a consequence of global warming, research by US scientists suggests that icebergs can be an important solution to limiting global climate change. by stimulating the surrounding waters to absorb excess carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) emissions in the air.

Through surveying the South Pole Weddell, US scientists discovered minerals released from melting ice blocks that created a favorable environment for plankton to absorb CO _{2 to} multiply. After eating these small plants, the mollusks (shrimp, shrimp .) release carbon-bearing manure to the sea floor.

Melting icebergs cause sea levels to rise but to some extent contribute to ' digest ' emissions in the atmosphere. (Photo: Scientific American)

Dr Ken Smith, a marine expert at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California, said: Under the impact of global warming, in recent decades, the number of ice sheets has split in regions. The sea around Antarctica has increased to nearly 1,000.

His team focused on studying two blocks of ice with the size of 2 km x 0.5 km and 21 km x 5 km respectively, and taking water samples at a distance of about 10 km. In the waters about 2 km away from the two ice blocks, the scientists recorded the situation of ' explosion ' of minerals, plankton, molluscs and seabirds compared to areas without icebergs.

'This result shows that free floating ice blocks can significantly increase the ecological activity of the oceans and could become an absorbent and organic carbon sink into the deep sea' , Dr. Smith commented.

This means that oceans are more likely to absorb CO ₂ emissions than we think. For example, the presence of 1,000 icebergs in Antarctic seas increases the biological productivity of the ecosystem here by 40%. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has planned a more in-depth study of the effects of icebergs on Earth's warming process, especially small ice sheets by 90% of the icebergs on Antarctic waters are smaller than the two ice sheets studied.

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