World's Largest Iceberg Broke Off An Antarctic Ice Shelf

A massive chunk of ice broke off from an Antarctic ice shelf, making it the world's largest iceberg. The iceberg, which has been named A-76, is over 100 miles long and more than 16 miles wide.

It covers more than 1,600 square miles and is larger than the state of Rhode Island.

"Iceberg A-76 calves from the western side of the Ronne Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea and is currently the largest iceberg in the world," the U.S. National Ice Center tweeted.

Scientists do not believe that climate change caused the iceberg to break away. Instead, they said it is part of the natural cycle of iceberg calving in the Antarctic Circle. They said that when the iceberg melts, it will not cause sea levels to rise because the ice shelf was already floating in the water.

While A-76 currently holds the title for the world's largest iceberg, it is not the largest iceberg ever recorded. That title goes to B15, which broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000 and had an area of more than 4,200 square miles. B15 eventually broke apart into smaller icebergs. All but one of the smaller pieces have since melted.

Photo: Getty Images