Andreas Mogensson, the Danish astronaut on behalf of the European Space Agency who heads the 70th crew manning the International Space Station (which, by the way, celebrated 25 years of activity a week ago), recently revealed breathtaking images on the social network X (formerly Twitter) of white dots on a blue background – except that these are not stars against the sky, but floating glaciers in the South Atlantic. These images provide an extraordinary look at an alarming environmental phenomenon: the accelerating breakup of glaciers due to global warming. With the help of ChatGPT we will tell about the images and their meaning.
The images show three particularly large white "lumps" surrounded by masses of smaller white dots, each of which is a huge glacier that broke away from Antarctica and is now sailing in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
"If you had asked me before this mission if it was possible to see glaciers with the naked eye from space, I would have said: 'No way,'" Mogensen admitted in the text accompanying the photos. "Maybe it's (because) of their unique geometry or maybe the contrast in the colors – but they're very visible from space," he added.
He went on to note the significance of the images: "Seeing glaciers floating reminds me of climate change, with glaciers melting at a rapid rate and rising sea levels. Places like the Maldives probably won't exist for another 70 years, after being 'drowned' in the rising ocean."
The tip of the iceberg
I have to admit that if you had asked me before this mission, if you could see icebergs with your naked eye from space, I would have said, "No way".
Turns out that you can! We have been seeing lots of icebergs lately in the south Atlantic. Perhaps it's... pic.twitter.com/qGY2CUCSfp
— Andreas Mogensen (@Astro_Andreas) December 3, 2023
The alarming rise in sea level, largely attributed to the melting of glaciers, reveals a gradual effect. When floating ice melts, it not only contributes to sea level rise, but also thins the oceans (in terms of salt and other minerals percentage), reducing density and causing further rise.
In recent years, astronauts and scientists on the ground using observation satellites have been monitoring the state of glaciers, and recently spotted the largest glacier that ever broke away from the Antarctic continent and drifted across Arctic waters.
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