The largest iceberg in the world is moving... its size is three times the size of New York

Arabia Weather - After decades of remaining at the bottom of the sea in Antarctica, the largest iceberg in the world has begun to move

This iceberg broke off from the Filchner Ice Shelf in Antarctica in 1986, but became anchored to the ocean floor and remained in the Weddell Sea for many years.

The largest iceberg in the world is moving

The iceberg is about three times the size of New York City, and more than twice the size of Greater London, with an area of about four thousand square kilometres.

This iceberg is called "A23a" and is more than 400 meters thick and has an area of about 4,000 square kilometers, which means that its size is more than twice the size of the British capital (1,572 square kilometers).

After nearly 3 decades, scientists Ella Gilbert and Oliver Marsh see that the iceberg has shrunk enough to lose its grip on the sea floor, as part of the ice shelf's natural growth cycle, and has begun to move.

They pointed out that "A23a" has won the title of "the largest iceberg currently" several times since the 1980s, and is sometimes surpassed by larger but shorter-lived icebergs, as happened with "A68" in 2017 and "A76" in 2021.

The two scientists expected that the iceberg, moved by ocean currents, would move east. According to available data, A23a moves at a daily rate of 5 km.

They emphasized that "although this iceberg emerged as part of the ice shelf's natural growth cycle, climate change is leading to changes in Antarctica's ice, with the continent losing huge amounts of ice every year."

It is noteworthy that Antarctic sea ice has reached its lowest level ever. New statistics show that in September, the extent of sea ice was 1.5 million square kilometers less than average for this time of year.

This area is roughly equivalent to the size of Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany combined.

Guterres noted that Greenland's ice sheet is also losing rapidly, losing more than 250 gigatons of ice annually.

He added: "All of this heralds a worldwide disaster. What is happening in Antarctica is not limited to that continent, and what is happening thousands of miles away has a direct impact here."

The Secretary-General continued: “We live in an interconnected world. Fossil fuel pollution is warming our planet, and is sparking climate chaos in Antarctica. Absorbing the majority of the heat from global warming means that ice is melting in the ocean at record rates.”

Guterres pointed out that melting ice means sea levels are rising at record rates, which puts the lives and livelihoods of people in coastal communities around the world at direct risk.

He also warned that this poses an existential threat to some small island states.

Sources: websites