An iceberg the size of Greater London broke off from the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica on Sunday, according to the British Antarctic Survey.
The iceberg is roughly 600 square miles (1550 square kilometers) in size. According to scientists, this is not a result of climate change but rather an expected phenomena.
The appearance of the cracks in the ice was already discovered a decade ago, and in the last two years there have been another two major breaks. While it seems scary, a good thing that the BAS Halley Research in the Brunt Ice Shelf and glaciologist research station is safe and sound
“Our science and operational teams continue to monitor the ice shelf in real-time to ensure it is safe, and to maintain the delivery of the science we undertake at Halley,” Professor Dominic Hodgson a BAS glaciologist said in a news release. “While the decline in Antarctic sea ice extent is always steep at this time of year, it has been unusually rapid this year,” scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported in early January, “and at the end of December, Antarctic sea ice extent stood at the lowest in the 45-year satellite record.”
Since the rise in temperature in the Ross Sea in November and December by approximately 2 degrees, along with high winds, has accelerated the disappearance of sea ice, low sea ice that has emerged is mostly due to a major band of warmer temperatures.
Read also : Climate Change Caused World’s Biggest Permafrost Crater Melts
Since no sea ice has recovered as of yet, it is proven by the data that the continent will complete the summer with new records. Due to climate change, Antarctica’s sea ice extent has already been unpredictable for a few decades. In contrast to the Arctic, where changes are occurring more quickly, Antarctica’s sea ice is very variable.
