Iceberg the size of Ras Al Khaimah breaks off Antarctica

A more than 600-square-mile iceberg broke off Antarctica in recent days, but the event is part of a normal cycle and is not related to climate change, scientists say. The iceberg, called D28, broke away from the Amery ice shelf between September 24 and 25, according to European and American satellite observations. It measures 1,582 square kilometres, according to the EU's Copernicus Earth-observation programme. D28 is about 210 metres thick and is made up of 315 billion tonnes of ice, US glaciologist Helen Amanda Fricker said. The figures are huge, but iceberg production is part of the normal cycle of ice shelves, which are an extension of the ice cap, she said. "Ice shelves have to lose mass because they gain mass. They want to stay the same size," said Prof Fricker, a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California. The gain in mass comes from snow falling on the continent and glaciers that move slowly towards the shore. Eastern Antarctica – where D28 broke off – is different from the west of the continent and Greenland, which are rapidly warming due to climate change. "It's really important that the public doesn't get confused and think that this is climate change," Prof Fricker said. An iceberg that was three times larger broke off Antarctica two years ago, she said, causing panic at the time. "It's a fine line because we definitely don't want people to think that climate change isn't happening," Prof Fricker added.

Iceberg the size of Ras Al Khaimah breaks off Antarctica

The event is part of a normal cycle and is not related to climate change, scientists say