How does a glacier burst?: Flooding in India leaves at least 31 dead and 165 missing. 'Alarming': World's glaciers are melting faster than ever because of global warming, study says The iceberg, A-76, took first place from another iceberg that broke off in the Weddell Sea that measured 1,498 square miles. That is where we see what might be our human influence,” Aleksandra Mazur told National Geographic in 2019. “What might not be natural is the rate at which it is happening, the acceleration of the process. Iceberg calving is the breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier and a natural process that will not lead to rises in sea levels because it was already a part of a floating ice shelf. Images were captured by the Copernicus Sentinel 1 mission after it calved from the Ronne Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea, ESA reported. The 1,667-square-mile block of ice is more than three times the size of Los Angeles. The world’s largest iceberg has broken off from Antarctica, the European Space Agency reported. Scientists say Antarctica’s sea ice could set a new record low again this year.Watch Video: World’s largest iceberg breaks off Antarctic ice shelf Last year, with temperatures warmer than normal, Antarctica set a record for the lowest amount of sea ice ever recorded. It’s now summer in Antarctica, and scientists say the sea ice is disappearing “unusually” rapidly. It grows larger in the cold winters, and smaller as it begins to melt in the summers. It’s a layer of ice that floats on the surface of the sea. Unlike an ice shelf, sea ice isn’t attached to Antarctica’s land. The 1,667-square-mile block of ice is more than three times the size of Los Angeles. Though the calving of A81 didn’t have anything to do with the climate crisis, the world’s rising temperatures are definitely affecting Antarctica’s sea ice. 1:03 The world’s largest iceberg has broken off from Antarctica, the European Space Agency reported. On January 22, Chasm-1 spread all the way across the ice shelf, setting A81 free. But around 2012, Chasm-1 began shifting again. The crack in the Brunt Ice Shelf that led to this calving was known as “Chasm-1” (above), and it had been quiet since the late 1970s. Scientists believe A81 will probably follow the same path. It was slightly smaller than A81.Īfter it broke free, A74 drifted into the Weddell Sea. In 2021, an iceberg called A74 broke off. This is the second time in two years that a huge iceberg has calved from the Brunt Ice Shelf. On January 22, Chasm-1 spread all the way across the ice shelf, breaking free the massive chunk of ice known as A81. In 2016, the United Kingdom moved its Halley VI Research Station farther away from Chasm-1. The crack in the Brunt Ice Shelf that led to this calving was known as “Chasm-1”, and it had been quiet since the late 1970s. (Source: Alexrk2, via Wikimedia Commons.) In the map above, the ice shelves are the white areas beyond the outline of the continent. When the glaciers reach the sea, they slowly push out beyond the edge of the land, forming huge “ice shelves”. Though calving events are a normal part of the ice shelf in Antarctica, one expert describe huge calving events like this one as “spectacular”. This is a natural process, called “calving”. Antarctica’s largest ice shelf, the Ross Ice Shelf, is about the size of France.įrom time to time, the edges of the ice shelves break off. These are massive sections of ice that spread out over the sea, floating on the water below. Over time, the weight of this ice and snow creates slowly moving rivers of ice called glaciers, which push out toward the sea. As snow falls, it piles up in the center of Antarctica in a huge layer of ice. That’s about twice the size of New York City, or roughly the size of London.Īntarctica, the world’s fifth largest continent, is covered with a layer of ice and snow that’s roughly 1.2 miles (1.9 kilometers) thick. The iceberg covers an area of about 600 square miles (1,550 square kilometers). On January 22, a massive iceberg known as “A81” broke off from Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf. Though Antarctica has been losing a lot of ice in recent years because of climate change, this event is normal and isn’t connected to the climate crisis. The iceberg is about 500 feet (152 meters) thick. That’s about twice the size of New York City, or roughly the size of London. It covers an area of about 600 square miles (1,550 square kilometers). The iceberg, known as “A81” is extremely large. But the size of the iceberg is hard to imagine. Scientists say the iceberg was expected to break off and the event isn’t connected to climate change. On January 22, a massive iceberg broke off from Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf.
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