Once world’s biggest iceberg, A23A rapidly breaks apart

The world's largest and most enduring iceberg is splintering into smaller pieces, to the point that it's no longer the biggest chunk of ice floating in the oceans. Advertisement

The shrinking megaberg, known as A23A, is unlikely to survive through the end of November and may face a sudden and spectacular collapse like an avalanche of ice at sea, said University of Colorado ice scientist Ted Scambos.

"It's an interesting thing to watch, certainly not unprecedented," Scambos said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. "But every time these happen, it's sort of a big, spectacular event."

Because ice shelves already float on water, ice reductions like this won't raise the sea level. But the reduction in ice shelves will cause melting land glaciers to flow into the oceans, and