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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

February 23, 2026

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 ...
Ocean waves are a vast and steady source of renewable energy, but capturing their power efficiently has long frustrated engineers. A researcher at The University of Osaka has now explored a bold new approach: a gyroscopic wave energy converter that ...
As the planet warms, many expected ecosystems to change faster and faster. Instead, a massive global study shows that species turnover has slowed by about one-third since the 1970s. Nature’s constant reshuffling appears to be driven more by ...
NASA has pulled off a high-flying aurora investigation, launching three rockets into the glowing northern lights over Alaska. One mission targeted mysterious dark patches called black auroras, while ...
For years, satellite data suggested that autumn snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere was actually increasing — a surprising twist in a warming world. But a new analysis reveals that this apparent growth was an illusion caused by improving ...
Even Antarctica’s toughest native insect can’t escape the reach of plastic pollution. Scientists have discovered that Belgica antarctica — a tiny, rice-sized midge and the southernmost insect on Earth — is already ingesting microplastics in ...
Scientists have developed a powerful new way to trace the journey of water across the planet by reading tiny atomic clues hidden inside it. Slightly heavier versions of hydrogen and oxygen, called isotopes, shift in predictable ways as water ...
Long before agriculture, humans were transforming Europe’s wild landscapes. Advanced simulations show that hunting and fire use by Neanderthals and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers reshaped forests and ...
A new scientific review challenges the headline-grabbing claim that Yellowstone’s returning wolves triggered one of the strongest trophic cascades on Earth. Researchers found that the reported 1,500% surge in willow growth was based on circular ...
Coral reefs, worth an estimated $9.8 trillion a year to humanity, are in far worse shape than previously realized. A massive international study found that during the 2014–2017 global marine heatwave, more than half of the world’s reefs suffered ...
Even when Earth was locked in its most extreme deep freeze, the planet’s climate may not have been as silent and still as once believed. New research from ancient Scottish rocks reveals that during Snowball Earth — when ice sheets reached the ...

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