152 billion tons of fresh water—equivalent to 20 times the volume of Loch Ness or 61 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, entered the seas around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia when the megaberg A68A melted over three months in 2020/2021, according to a new study.
In July 2017, the A68A iceberg snapped off the Larsen-C Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula and began its epic 3.5-year, 4,000-km journey across the Southern Ocean. At 5719 square kilometers in extent—one-quarter the size of Wales—it was the biggest iceberg on Earth when it formed and the sixth largest on record. Around Christmas 2020, the berg received widespread attention as it drifted worryingly close to South Georgia, raising concerns it could harm the island's fragile ecosystem.