Adrift at sea 

Adrift at sea 

Context

• The calving of a trillion-ton iceberg from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica raises the question about the impact of warming atmosphere.

The concern

• In the context of rising emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, a cautionary note was sounded, on warming the seas which hastens the melting of the shelves that hold its great mass.
• Reports says that except for man-made causes, there was no anticipated factor in the natural geological cycle that would disturb Antarctica.
• And in the case of Larsen C, scientists have said that there was no link to human-induced climate change.
• Thus, The separation of an iceberg almost 6,000 sq. km in size from the ice shelf shows the importance of such alarms.

Effect

• Among the immediate effects of changes could be a shift in biodiversity: species like emperor penguins which depend on sea ice to complete their life cycle are at risk if ice cover declines.
• Any negative impact of the latest event will likely be felt years or decades later but it highlights the need to stop continued warming of the planet from man-made carbon emissions.