Scientists have been watching the birth of a new massive iceberg from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica over the past few months. Today it was announced that the final separation of the huge ice chunk has occurred as the last 3-mile segment of crack split. Since this is floating ice, the loss of the ice from the ice shelf will not change sea level. However, its removal from the ice shelf means that land ice dammed up behind it is now free to flow downhill much faster than before. That could ultimately increase sea level as the land ice enters the ocean and starts to melt. You can read more about it at The Guardian here and MarketWatch here. Newser has some additional links to related stories here and provides and estimate that this is the third-largest iceberg ever measured.
