World's Largest Iceberg, Bigger Than New York¡¯s Long Island, Breaks Off Antarctica Coast
Just last year, we saw rising global temperatures break apart iceberg A-68, which at the time was the largest the world had seen.
A massive chunk of the iceberg as large as the size of Majorca in Spain has broken off the coast of Antarctica, which according to the satellite data is the world¡¯s largest.
Copernicus Sentinel-1 via Reuters
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According to the European Space Agency, the iceberg (named A-76) broke apart from the western side of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica and is now floating on the Weddell Sea. It is roughly 170 kilometres long and 25 kilometres wide.
A-76 was first detected by the British Antarctic Survey. This was confirmed by the U.S. National Ice Center in Maryland which made use of imagery from the Copernicus Sentinel-1.
Global warming is causing the ice sheet in Antarctica to warm faster than the rest of the planet, resulting in the melting of ice covers as well as glaciers, most prominently around the Weddell Sea. With glaciers retreating, pieces of ice disintegrate and float adrift before they either break further apart or crash into land.
Just last year, we saw rising global temperatures break apart iceberg A-68, which at the time was the largest the world had seen, from Antarctica to the coast of South Georgia island. The iceberg was initially feared to collide with an island that was otherwise a prominent breeding ground for penguins and sea lions.
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However, luckily, the iceberg broke off and disintegrated before the collision could have occurred.
Representational image: Reuters Reuters
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Another problem these icebergs contribute to is the rising sea level after they melt away. A study published in Nature earlier this month has discovered that average sea levels have gone up around 9 inches since 1880 with a quarter of that increase originating from the ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets.
The study had highlighted that the ambitious national goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the impact of climate change won¡¯t be enough to stop sea levels from rising. Scientists warned that the melting of ice sheets and glaciers would continue to rise twice as fast even if the nations fulfilled their pledges under the Paris Agreement.
