Is An Iceberg Going to Hit Australia?

You would think so with how prominent this story has been in the media:

A massive iceberg — more than twice the size of New York’s Manhattan island — is drifting slowly toward Australia, scientists said Wednesday.

The iceberg, measuring 140 square km (54 square miles), cleaved off an ice shelf nearly 10 years ago and had been floating near Antarctica before commencing on its unusual journey north.

Named B17B, it was about 1,700 km (1,056 miles) off the coast of West Australia, according to the country’s Antarctic Division.

“B17B is a very significant one in that it has drifted so far north while still largely intact,” said Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Neal Young, who spotted the slab using satellite images taken by NASA and the European Space Agency.

“It’s one of the biggest sighted at those latitudes.”  [CNN]

If you are wonder know this iceberg isn’t going to hit Australia:

It is unlikely to drift too close to the coast in its current form, Young said. The warmer waters will cause it to melt.

“As the water warms up, the iceberg is slowly breaking up, resulting in hundreds more smaller icebergs in the area,” Young said on the Australian Antarctic Division Web site.

Also if you the rest of the article these icebergs have nothing to do with global warming either.