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Iceberg

An iceberg is a large piece of ice that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. Since the density of pure water ice is ca. 920 kg/m3, and that of sea water ca. 1025 kg/m3, typically, around 90% of the volume of an iceberg is under water, and that portion's shape can be difficult to surmise from looking at what is visible above the surface. This has led to the expression "tip of the iceberg", generally applied to a problem or difficulty, meaning that the visible trouble is only a small manifestation of a larger problem.

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Earth & Climate News

March 3, 2026

Fusion energy may be one of the most promising clean power sources of the future—but only if scientists can precisely measure the extreme, fast-moving plasmas that make it possible. A new U.S. Department of Energy–sponsored report urges major ...
K’gari’s iconic lakes have existed for tens of thousands of years—but they haven’t always been full. New research shows that about 7,500 years ago, during a time of high rainfall, several of ...
Even in the ultra-dry Atacama Desert, tiny soil-dwelling nematodes are thriving in surprising diversity. Scientists found that biodiversity increases with moisture and altitude shapes which species survive. In the most extreme zones, many nematodes ...
A popular climate theory suggested that melting Antarctic glaciers would release iron into the ocean, sparking algae blooms that pull carbon dioxide from the air. New field data from West Antarctica reveal that meltwater provides far less iron than ...
Scientists racing to tackle plastic pollution have created a surprising new contender: a biodegradable packaging film made partly from milk protein. Researchers at Flinders University blended calcium caseinate with starch and natural nanoclay to ...
Antarctica’s Hektoria Glacier stunned scientists by retreating eight kilometers in just two months, with nearly half of it collapsing in record time. The rapid breakup was driven by a flat, underwater bedrock surface that allowed the glacier to ...
A lost cache of 250-million-year-old fossils from Australia has rewritten part of the story of life after Earth’s worst mass extinction. Instead of a single marine amphibian species, researchers ...
Scientists have proposed a surprising connection between solar flares and earthquakes. When solar activity disturbs the ionosphere, it may generate electric fields that penetrate fragile fracture zones in Earth’s crust. If a fault is already ...
Deep in the Congo Basin, vast peatlands quietly store enormous amounts of Earth’s carbon — but new research suggests this ancient vault may be leaking. Scientists studying Africa’s largest ...
A new 30-year analysis reveals that melting land ice is now the main force behind rising global sea levels. Researchers discovered that oceans rose about 90 millimeters since 1993, with most of the increase coming from added water mass rather than ...
Deep in the Arctic north, drained peatlands—once massive carbon vaults built over thousands of years—are quietly leaking greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But new field research from northern Norway suggests there’s a powerful way to slow ...
Flea and tick medications trusted by pet owners worldwide may have an unexpected environmental cost. Scientists found that active ingredients from isoxazoline treatments pass into pet feces, exposing dung-feeding insects to toxic chemicals. These ...

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