"An extraordinary 40-year journey is coming to an end"/ The world's largest iceberg is on the verge of total disintegration

2026-03-07 21:52:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

"An extraordinary 40-year journey is coming to an end"/ The

One of the world's oldest icebergs, A23a, once the largest on the planet, is reaching its end after an incredible four-decade journey from Antarctica to the South Atlantic, as rising sea temperatures accelerate its breakup.

Its size is extraordinary, having once covered an area more than twice the area of ??Greater London, making it one of Antarctica's most impressive natural phenomena.

According to the BBC , after a course full of unpredictable changes in direction and constant movement, A23a began to gradually lose its mass. Over the past year, the iceberg has undergone significant melting, cracking, and finally spectacularly breaking into smaller pieces.

"An extraordinary 40-year journey is coming to an end"/ The

A characteristic of its size is the way it is depicted from space, with the image being more than impressive.

"An extraordinary 40-year journey is coming to an end"/ The

Its path is also depicted on maps showing its route from Antarctica to the South Atlantic. On a dark-background map centered on the South Atlantic Ocean, with South America to the west, Africa to the east, and Antarctica to the south, a light blue line shows the path A23a took as it moved north from the frozen shores of Antarctica toward the open ocean.

"An extraordinary 40-year journey is coming to an end"/ The

Today, far from the icy seas of Antarctica, what remains of the iceberg is being eroded by warmer ocean waters due to the climate crisis. Scientists estimate that it is now in the final stages of its existence and likely will not survive more than a few weeks.

Although all icebergs eventually melt, researchers are carefully studying how A23a broke up. Their aim is to better understand how other parts of Antarctica might respond as Earth's climate changes.

"It's been an incredible journey. But it's now in its final stages ," said Professor Mike Meredith of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.

The story of the last few months of A23a is another example of the changes taking place in the polar regions and the impacts that climate change could have on the future of Antarctic ice. /CNA