Melting Icebergs Fertilize Oceans and Slow Warming, Study Says

The Manhattan-sized icebergs breaking off from the Antarctic ice sheet, which have become a symbol for climate change and
Melting icebergs can fertilize the oceans
rising oceans, may actually help slow global warming, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience. As the icebergs melt in warmer waters, they release in their wake significant amounts of iron and other nutrients that act as fertilizers for algae and other ocean flora, organisms that extract carbon from the atmosphere as they grow. These iceberg-induced ocean blooms absorb 10 to 40 million tons of carbon a year, or about the equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions from Sweden or New Zealand, the study finds. Until now, the impact of ocean fertilization was thought to be very localized. Grant Bigg, of the University of Sheffield and an author of the report, said he was surprised to find that the impact can extend up to 1,000 kilometers. There are typically 30 giant icebergs floating off Antarctica at any one time, and they can linger for years.