Look: An Iceberg Twice the Size of NYC Just Broke Off Antarctica

Science The A-81 iceberg is the latest chunk to split from the Brunt Ice Shelf. by Jennifer Walter Feb. 2, 2023 Samuel J Coe/Moment/Getty Images

NASA Earth Observatory/USGS In January, an iceberg roughly twice the size of New York City split off from Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf.

It was a breakup almost a decade in the making. Back in 2012, scientists noticed the first signs of activity in a dormant chasm in the ice. NASA Earth Observatory/USGS

Here’s a satellite image from January 1986, well before the chasm cracked open.

NASA Earth Observatory/USGS

And here’s the Brunt Ice Shelf in 2019, when a prominent crack had nearly made its way across the region.

NASA Earth Observatory/USGS

But it wasn’t until January 22, 2023, that it finally happened.

Andrew Peacock/E+/Getty Images Scientists knew that the day the shelf would split was drawing closer and closer.

That’s when a 600-square-mile iceberg, now dubbed A-81, calved into the sea. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2023), processed by ESA

This time lapse shows the progression of A-81’s separation, from 2019 to today.

Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021-23), processed by ESA

Another angle shows the region in October 2022 vs. last month when the iceberg separated.

Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2022-23), processed by ESA

Now, A-81 is making its way out to sea, as seen in this satellite image taken on January 25.

This isn’t the first time a giant chunk of ice fell off the Brunt Ice Shelf. You might remember A-74, another massive iceberg that made headlines in 2021. Samuel J Coe/Moment/Getty Images

A-74 was located a bit further north than A-81, and was about 110 square miles smaller than the new iceberg.

Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2023), processed by ESA Though the Brunt Ice Shelf has seen a lot of breakage in recent years, researchers say it’s not out of the ordinary.

Mark Edward Harris/Photodisc/Getty Images “This calving event has been expected and is part of the natural behaviour of the Brunt Ice Shelf. It is not linked to climate change.” Dominic Hodgson, British Antarctic Survey glaciologist, in a press release