Ice Sheet 20X Size Of Manhattan Finally Breaks Off Antartica

[Economy 52,845]

1 hour ago, Lucas said:

Jesus... as it broke it's going to move to a warmer zone and melt even faster now right? 

Yes 

 

I mean ice sheets breaking off is normal... but this adds to the increased frequency that large chuncks have been breaking off since global warming

 

Antartica also holds over 90% of the worlds fresh water if ice is counted... enough to raise oceans over 200 feet if it ever all melted (but thats not a plausible scenario as Antartica is so cold even a temperature increase of 5C (10F or so) wouldnt come even close to melting it all)

 

Also the inner parts of antartica are actually getting thicker because warmer planet means more precipitation (more snowfall there) but it never melts so it offsets some of what breaks off on its edges (but only a small part tho)

[Sneaky Oliver 22,974]

I don’t wanna sound stupid enough but can the ocean carry it away? Maybe it’s too huge and heavy and it can kind of establish itself? 
 

and if it can get carried away from Antartica, is it safe to say that it might approach South America or Africa ? It might turn the water too cold for tropical species? I have so many questions 

[Evan Peters 10,776]

39 minutes ago, Sneaky Oliver said:

I don’t wanna sound stupid enough but can the ocean carry it away? Maybe it’s too huge and heavy and it can kind of establish itself? 
 

and if it can get carried away from Antartica, is it safe to say that it might approach South America or Africa ? It might turn the water too cold for tropical species? I have so many questions 

yes, the ocean can carry it away. ice is lighter than water so the only reason it wasn't moving to begin with was because it was attached to Antarctica, which is land. it broke off so the ocean can do as it pleases with it now