The number of icebergs in the Arctic has increased significantly since the early 2000s. A new study, carried out by, among others, researchers from DTU Space, documents how the melting of large glaciers in Northeast Greenland and the Russian part of the Arctic is sending ever more icebergs into the ocean.
The icebergs transport surprisingly large amounts of rock and sediment from land and transport them several hundred kilometers into the sea. The stones sink to the bottom and change life on the seabed nearly 2,500 meters below the ocean surface. The hard surfaces on an otherwise soft seabed allow sponges, sea anemones, and other organisms to establish themselves.
This is yet another clear example that climate change in the Arctic has far-reaching consequences, says Shfaqat Abbas Khan, professor at DTU Space and co-author of the study:
"When Greenland's ice melts, sea levels rise. But we can also see that the changes affect the entire Arctic system. The effects can be traced from the glaciers in Northeast Greenland to the seabed several thousand meters below the ocean surface and to the waters where shipping traffic is growing," he says.
