Nearly twice the broadband of Hanoi is about to drift away from Antarctica

According to the latest information from the European Space Agency ESA, one of the largest icebergs in history is about to drift away from Antarctica. The ice is about 6,500 square kilometers in size - almost twice the size of Hanoi.

Illustrated from Edinburgh University.

The drifting ice is called Larsen C, one of the largest ice shelves in the Antarctic continent. Scientists have been tracking Larsen C for months now, after observing a deep crack that slowly stretches to 193km. Currently, according to ESA, this ice sheet is only associated with Larsen C ice shelf by a section of only about 5km. It is not possible to predict exactly when the iceberg left Antarctica, but it is expected to be about 188m thick, to make it easier to imagine the height of Vietcombank Tower in Ho Chi Minh City. The ice will drift to the North as usual, expected to weigh about 1,000 billion tons.

The ice sheets are still ceasing from Antarctica, but this large ice sheet will make a difference. According to many scientists, this case could be a sign of the Antarctic ice breaking up due to global warming. But there is also the opposite, arguing that these are just natural movements. Helen Fricker, Antarctic research scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, simply said: 'We don't need to panic at all about Larsen C'.

One of ESA's Antarctic tracking satellites.

We can rely on similarly large ice sheets separated in 1995 and 2002 to know in advance what happens after Larsen C separated from Antarctica. These ice shelves are always floating on the surface of the ocean, so when they melt or split, the sea level will not be directly affected. However, it must be emphasized that the ice shelves have the role of keeping the ice on the Antarctic continent from flowing down the variable. When these barrier walls are lost, there will be more continental tapes flowing into the sea, meaning sea levels rise.

Even if the Larsen C iceberg left Antarctica because of global warming, it is clear that our planet is heating up. 2016 has just marked the 3rd consecutive year that we broke the hottest year record. With an ice-filled continent, this may not seem very good.