![]() 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. When the glaciers reach the sea, they slowly push out beyond the edge of the land, forming huge “ice shelves”. 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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