Iceberg cracked and turned over in front of tourists (5 photos + 1 video)

Off the coast of the Norwegian Svalbard collapsed a giant ice block and overturned. Just a few meters from there were tourists, and they captured a rare phenomenon.





The spectacular event took place in the Lillihookbreen glacial complex, which is about 22 kilometers long.



Usually such a coup occurs immediately after separation. iceberg from the "parent" glacier. Scientists claim that during this process can release as much energy as an explosion atomic bomb. Very rarely, this phenomenon causes a tsunami.

Rebecca Lucas Gan and Brian Gan from the Philippines witnessed an amazing experience while traveling with Silversea Cruises





"I heard a loud bang, and then I saw that the iceberg began move, getting bigger and taller as he turned over,” says Gan. “At first I thought that I had hallucinations, as I had never seen anything like it before. Usually icebergs don't move. Then our guide explained how lucky we were, because this The event is extremely rare."



It is believed that at present about 60% of the territory Svalbard is covered with glaciers similar to Lillihookbreen, which corresponds to an ice volume of 7000 km³



If Lillihookbreen is one of the largest archipelago, Ostfonna is widely known as the largest ice cap Europe, the volume of which is 1900 km³. For comparison: in the Dead Sea contains about 114 km³ of water.



The balance between summer temperatures and winter precipitation determines whether glaciers will grow or shrink.

According to research by the Center for Polar Observations and modeling, since the mid-1990s, the thinning of glaciers has sharply accelerated. The rate of global warming in Svalbard is seven times exceed the global ones. Last summer was the hottest ever observations: the temperature in August in Ny-Ålesund reached 5.1°C.

Climate change is having dire consequences. In summer 2019, 200 dead reindeer were found in Svalbard. Animals died of hunger - in winter they did not get what they needed amount of food due to heavy rains and ice.