A giant iceberg the size of Greater London has broken off from an Antarctic ice shelf near a research station, researchers announced Monday, the second such split.
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said the formation of new icebergs – in a natural process called “calving” – was not due to climate change, which is accelerating the loss of sea ice in parts of the Arctic and Antarctica.
The iceberg, measuring 1,550 square kilometers (598 sq mi), broke away from the 150-metre-thick Brunt Ice Shelf a decade after scientists first observed massive cracks in the shelf.
A similar spectacular breakup involving a 1,270-sq-km iceberg took place about a year ago.