6 ms·
A68 iceberg on collision path with South Georgia
- andrewflnr 6y agoI guess it's too big to break up with explosives?
- gruez 6y agoEven nukes? Do H-bombs generate a lot of fallout?
- adrianN 6y agoH-bombs use fission to start the fusion, so I'd guess that the amount of fallout is not much different. In any case, the test ban treaty would probably prevent the use of nukes.
- ravi-delia 6y agoThe test ban absolutely would prevent it, but modern H-Bombs have next to no fallout, because the fission device is very efficient.
- Elv13 6y ago> The test ban absolutely would prevent it Not quite. The Soviets used nukes with USA blessing (and on-site monitors) on several occasions for geo-engineering jobs. Mostly to plug burning oil wells. The CTBTO would not be happy, but depending on who built the nuke and how deep it is in the iceberg, this is boilerplate approvable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_National_Economy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_Nat... That being said, it's silly to nuke an iceberg and it wont achieve anything. The current will push the chunks back together and the shockwave will kill all the penguins. edit: Another "funny" USSR use case for fission reactors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterrene https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterrene . The mind boggling detail is that apparently it just worked (until it didn't).
- andrewflnr 6y agoI mean, my idea was to break it up before it got close to any penguins. And I wouldn't take it for granted that it would get squished back together, considering they're surprised it hasn't broken up already. Not saying that nukes are a good solution...
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y agoWhy do you make that USSR? According to your second link, the USA did that too. Besides that, there are pictures on the net with tunnel boring machine in US Air Force livery from 1982 somewhere around Little Skull Mountain, Nevada, where they experimented with that, allegedly :) But it's always the same picture, and it looks like a normal TBM to, except of the livery, of course :) Mostly comes up in context of so called DUMBs(Deep Underground Military Bases) where the conspiracy fetishists lurk :)
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y agoI'm also always wondering what would happen if it meets groundwater, and the resulting steam explosion?
- arethuza 6y agoMost modern weapons are fission-fusion-fission designs with the latter fission step using neutrons from the preceding fusion step. Most of the energy in most "H-bomb" designs comes from fission: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermonuclear_weapon A notable example where this wasn't the case was the test of the Tsar Bomba where the final fission component was left out largely because of the enormous amount of fall-out this would create - reducing the yield from 100Mt to 50Mt. The resulting explosion did have a very high fusion component.
- stickfigure 6y agoThe article says the iceberg is 4200 sq km. That's about the size of Rhode Island. I don't think a few H-bombs are going to do much.
- neetrain 6y agoSo it's wider than South Georgia Island itself? How crazy.
- cm2187 6y agoBut you only need to break it up. Perhaps that could be achieved?
- arethuza 6y agoExploding a single nuke on that berg is probably going to just produce a berg with a neat circular hole in it, some radioactive sea water (from neutron activation of sodium) and a lot of dead wildlife.
- swiley 6y agoI think H-bombs are the opposite of what you want: they're all radiation and little to no explosion. The idea is you detonate them in a city and then have your own citizens move in and take over the undamaged property.
- tyho 6y agoAre you thinking of a neutron bomb? Whilst a hydrogen bomb doe s produce lots of radiation, it also produces one hell of a big boom.
- arethuza 6y agoIsn't a neutron bomb a hydrogen bomb design that lets the neutrons from the fusion escape rather than being used to drive a final fission stage?
- kiddico 6y agoWhat if we train a team of experienced oil drillers to become sailors, and have them blow it up? Or maybe it would be easier to train sailors to become oil drillers... Either way, I think we can just pull it off. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ahtp0sjA5U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ahtp0sjA5U)
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y agoThe UK has some Eurofighters stationed on Mount Pleasant in the Falklands, they can carry some nasty stuff. And submarines with torpedoes! Time for BAE Systems to show off, err... green wash, white wash, whatever.
- lopmotr 6y agoOrganisms fill every niche on the planet. Any unusual disturbance will kill a lot of them. It doesn't matter. Why do people have this worry about anything changing ever? Nothing will go extinct. Why not be excited about the spectacular event? People are so negative and looking at the gloomy side of so much.
- slimed 6y agoMaybe they have children that they care about?
- loopz 6y agoRapid warming may end up extincting most current lifeforms. There are certain one-way thresholds it'll take millions of years to repair. Civilization is living in unprecedented stable temperatures, which we should strive to keep. See David's new documentary on Netflix.
- gcc42 6y agoYeah I'm sure that's what dinosaurs thought.
- feralimal 6y agoThey worry, because they are told to. They are told that humanity is a plague on the planet. The consequence of this (lie) is lots of hand wringing and self blame. But there is nothing to be done about one's existence. Though surely some will have killed themselves and many have not had the families they wanted in account of this misplaced belief.
- xKingfisher 6y agoI had the pleasure to visit South Georgia at the start of the year and it is one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had. The island is beautiful and just teeming with life. There has been a tremendous effort to help the ecosystem recover from the damage done by whaling. I don't know what can be done but I really hope the best for the island. It'd be a shame to lose it, both for a wildlife and for future generations.
- eps 6y agoHow did you end up going there?
- xKingfisher 6y agoI went on a cruise through Quark Expeditions. We saw the Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica. Going in Antarctica was what I was most excited about but South Georgia proved to be the surprise favorite of the trip. If you have the time and the means I would highly recommend it. Especially because due to increased tour volumes the tour companies are starting to limit their activities to limit environmental damage. Starting this year they are limiting daily landings from 2 to 1 (or that was the plan at least).
- eps 6y agoOh, nice. Thanks for the lead :) What ship were you on?
- xKingfisher 6y agoI was on the Ocean Diamond. Not the newest or nicest but still more than comfortable. And barely over 100 passengers, which is the max that can be on shore at one. I can't say enough good things about Quark, they were incredibly professional and the expedition staff were all top tier. I still keep in touch with quite a few of them.
- smackay 6y agoThe island is also rat-free, which is utterly mind boggling given the terrain. https://www.gov.gs/environment/eradication-projects/eradication-projects-rats/ https://www.gov.gs/environment/eradication-projects/eradicat...
- jgilias 6y agoGiven that it's quite impossible for a giant iceberg to appear in either Armenia or Florida, I initially felt quite perplexed by the heading. Geography lesson learned. Are there any other Georgias one should know about?
- arethuza 6y agoQuite a few: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia But not as many as: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria
- protomyth 6y agoWell, people have towed icebergs to some odd places for water. Given how this year has gone, I wouldn't put it past someone.
- blueblisters 6y agoFun bit of trivia: Shackleton had to cross 35 kms of uncharted rugged terrain and glaciers on South Georgia Island without any mountaineering equipment to get help for his men stranded on Elephant Island [1]. A bunch of experienced climbers recreated this journey with proper equipment and concluded that the Shackleton chose an exceedingly challenging route and yet somehow made it out the other side: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackletonexped/dispatches/20000413.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackletonexped/dispatches/200... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_James_Caird#South_Georgia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_James_Caird#Sout...
- yesiam 6y agoShackleton proved time and time again that he was a reckless rogue, hellbent on doing things the hard way, constantly putting his crew in intractable dangerous situations that should never have happened.
- ls65536 6y ago> Shackleton had to cross 35 kms of uncharted rugged terrain and glaciers on South Georgia Island without any mountaineering equipment And all this right after crossing, along with five of his companions, 1300 km of some of the most treacherous stretches of ocean in the world, in a modified lifeboat! The entire story of that whole expedition really is amazing.
- mywacaday 6y agoIf you ever get a chance to see the show https://www.tomcreanshow.com/ https://www.tomcreanshow.com/ take it. It follows Creans adventures with Shackleton. The story telling is magnificent, I actually felt a shiver at one point as he described the cold and they played sounds of the wind.