Giant Iceberg Could Affect Weather

Ship captains shouldn't have any trouble missing this one: A block of floating ice roughly the size of Luxembourg cracked away from what is known as the Mertz Glacier Tongue, a much larger block of floating Antarctica ice. The iceberg is so big (985 square miles) that it now threatens to disrupt global ocean patterns and weather systems for decades. Specifically, it could slow the production of cold, salty water, which sinks to the bottom and drives the circulation of water around the globe. That could eventually lead to harsher winters in the North Atlantic and endanger a large colony of Emperor penguins in Antarctica.