Giant Iceberg In Antarctica, Known as A-76, is Now the Largest in the World

A giant slab of ice recently sheared off of Antarctica, and scientists call it the largest iceberg in the world. Images of the big berg — known as A-76 — were captured by a satellite from the European Space Agency.

This iceberg is over 1,600 square miles, which is bigger than Rhode Island or the Spanish island of Majorca.

A-76 is now floating in the Weddell Sea, off of Antarctica. It joins the former largest iceberg in the world, called A-23A, also located in the Weddell.

Scientists say the formation of A-76 is part of a cyclical process and not the result of climate change. They also expected that A-76 would eventually break into two or three smaller pieces.

A glacier scientist from the University of Colorado told Reuters that the breaking away of A-76 does not raise ocean levels because the ice was already floating in the sea before carving off from the coast.

However, other ice shelves further from the south pole have disintegrated rapidly in recent years. This is a phenomenon that climate scientists say is a result of climate change.

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