ENVIRONMENT | Melting Glaciers

Iceberg half the size of Manhattan breaks off glacier: WATCH

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Cheryl Santa Maria

Digital Reporter

Thursday, July 12, 2018, 12:47 PM - A video taken by scientists from New York University on June 22 shows a massive iceberg separating from Greenland's Helheim glacier.

The chunk of ice is roughly half the size of Manhattan.

(RELATED: TRILLION TONNE ICEBERG BREAKS AWAY FROM ANTARCTICA)

Ice calving is the breaking away of ice chunks from a glacier's edge. It is a significant contributor to global sea level rises.

David Holland, leader of the research team that captured the recent calving, called the rise of sea levels due to melting ice "both undeniable and consequential".

"By capturing how it unfolds, we can see, first-hand, its breath-taking significance," he added in a description circulated along with the video.

TRILLION-TONNE ICEBERG CALVING MAKES HEADLINES IN 2017

Last June, a trillion-tonne chunk of ice broke away from Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf.





Breaking news! The iceberg has fully detached from Larsen C - more details to follow soon pic.twitter.com/pdSxDuAGjR — Project MIDAS (@MIDASOnIce) July 12, 2017





That calving event was mostly linked to natural ice shelf processes and is not expected to cause a significant sea level rise because it was already hanging over the water before it broke away, writes Weather Network science writer Scott Sutherland.

Still, scientists believe its accelerated demise may have been prompted by warming Antarctic waters.

VIDEO: ICEBERG EXPLODES NEAR TOURIST BOAT







