NASA Satellite Shows World's Largest Iceberg Breaking Into Thousands Of Pieces. What Happens Next

The world's largest iceberg, A23a, is breaking apart into smaller pieces, posing a threat to humans and the millions of penguins in the nearby Antarctic sanctuary. NASA's Aqua satellite, equipped with MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), has captured striking images of the massive iceberg A23a breaking apart. The photos show thousands of smaller ice chunks detaching from the iceberg's northern edge, creating a hazardous icy landscape in the surrounding area. The image highlights the iceberg's enormous size, comparable to South Georgia Island (approximately 1400 square miles), which is famously known for Ernest Shackleton's rescue mission after the Endurance shipwreck.

"Thousands of iceberg pieces litter the ocean surface near the main berg, creating a scene reminiscent of a dark, starry night," wrote representatives with the space agency, NASA wrote in a statement. 

The "megaberg" A23a, currently the world's largest iceberg, has a surface area of approximately 1,200 square miles. It calved from Antarctica's Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986 but remained trapped until 2023. After breaking free, it regained the title of largest iceberg in June 2023. A23a became stuck again in a vortex in early 2024 but broke free in December. It is now grounded off South Georgia Island, where it will likely remain until it melts or breaks apart in the "iceberg graveyard" of the Scotia Sea.

As per NASA, the massive iceberg is breaking apart into smaller pieces through a process called "edge wasting." Although the new icebergs appear small compared to A23a, many are still around a kilometre across, posing a risk to ships. The largest piece to break off, dubbed A23c, measures approximately 50 square miles. Since getting stuck in March, A23a has shrunk by about 200 square miles. It's expected to take months or years for the iceberg to fully disintegrate. A23a's size lead is also narrowing, with another iceberg, D15A, closing in on its record.

The Impact

South Georgia Island is home to a diverse wildlife population, including seals, seabirds, and over 2 million penguins, but has a sparse human presence with only a few dozen researchers visiting annually. The massive iceberg A23a, currently grounded offshore, could potentially disrupt the ecosystem by forcing penguins to travel longer distances to find prey and altering the surrounding water temperature and salinity with its meltwater.

Some of these fragments measure over half a mile wide and could therefore "pose a risk to ships," according to NASA.

However, its relatively distant location from the coast may mitigate the impact. Some researchers suggest the melting iceberg could also have a positive effect by releasing nutrients into the ocean, benefiting the marine ecosystem.

Scientists warn that similar events, such as massive iceberg break-offs, may become more frequent in the future because of climate change. This acceleration of ice shelf melting could have significant implications for global sea levels, ocean ecosystems and the planet's climate as a whole.