Giant iceberg melts after decades adrift in Antarctica

▲ Tour of the ice giant in warmer waters. Photo courtesy of the British Antarctic Survey.

AFP

La Jornada Newspaper, Wednesday, September 3, 2025, p. 6

Paris. A giant iceberg that broke off Antarctica 39 years ago, once the world's largest, is melting in warmer waters, scientists say.

At the beginning of the year, this ice colossus, dubbed A23a , weighed nearly a trillion tons and covered nearly 4,000 square kilometers—50 percent larger than the surface area of ​​Luxembourg.

But as it drifted northward, and therefore toward less cold regions of the Southern Ocean, large chunks broke off.

Its current size is 1,770 square kilometers, with a width of up to 60 kilometers, according to an AFP analysis based on satellite images from the European Copernicus service.

"I'd say it's really coming to an end (...) It's just rotting away at the roots. The water is too warm for it to survive. It's constantly melting," Andrew Meijers, an oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey, told AFP.

"I expect this to continue for the next few weeks, and in a few more, it will be unrecognizable," he added.

A23a broke away from the continent in 1986 before running aground in the Weddell Sea, where it remained anchored to the ocean floor for more than three decades. In 2020, it set off again, carried like other icebergs by the powerful Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

In March 2025, it ran aground again, not far from South Georgia, and there were fears that it could threaten the livelihoods of penguins and seals.

He finished his journey around the island, gaining speed as the powerful waves and milder waters of this ocean wore him down.

Scientists were “surprised” that it had lasted so long. “Most icebergs don’t make it that far,” Meijers added, adding that they are “doomed” once they leave the protection of the Antarctic climate.

Iceberg formation is a natural process, and scientists estimate that the rate at which Antarctica produces them has increased, likely due to climate change caused by human activities.