A massive iceberg, twice the size of Manhattan, was recently spotted off the southwest coat of Australia. The 19km long (11.8 mile) and 8km (5 mile) wide iceberg was spotted via NASA satellite imaging by the Australian Antarctic Division. Nicknamed B17B, the enormous iceberg was set adrift when two Antarctica ice shelves, the Ronne and Ross Sea Ice Shelves, fractured in 2000.
Currently, B17B is floating about 1600km (1,000 miles) off the coast of Australia, but is expected to move closer to shipping lanes and landmasses via ocean currents and wind changes. Experts believe the iceberg will thin and break up as it hits warmer waters.
Icebergs of this magnitude are extremely rare, and Dr. Neal Young, the glaciologist who first discovered the iceberg, described it as an once-in-a-lifetime event. However, large icebergs are expected to become more prevalent as the effects of global climate change continue.
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