March 2nd news in Beijing time, according to the British "Daily Mail" reported that a giant iceberg with an area of about the size of Dorsetshire in the UK has recently broken away from the Antarctic continent. This massive iceberg could possibly affect global climate patterns over the next few years.
The iceberg is approximately 50 miles (about 80 kilometers) long and 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) wide, breaking off from the tongue of the Mertz Glacier. The Mertz Glacier extends a tongue approximately 100 miles (about 160 kilometers) long into the ocean from the Antarctic continent. This iceberg calving event was caused by a collision with another older iceberg designated as "B9B". Back in 1987, the "B9B" iceberg, approximately 60 miles (about 97 kilometers) long, broke away from the glacier. These two icebergs together weigh roughly one trillion tons and have now drifted to a position 90 miles (about 145 kilometers) from the northern coast of Antarctica.