Debate sparked over significance of huge iceberg
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It would take one or two years for the the big bloc of ice to reach the Canadian coast, she said.
The newly born ice island has also been used as further proof of global warming, as many parts of the world are now beomg grilled by unprecedented heatwaves.
Yet the evidence to prove the link hasn't been identified.
Temperatures have risen by more than 2.5 degrees Celsius since 1970 in the Arctic. The Arctic sea ice cover in June was at the lowest level since records began in 1979, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Petermann Glacier is one of the two largest remaining glaciers in Greenland that terminate in floating shelves. The glacier connects the great Greenland ice sheet directly with the ocean.
The new ice island has an area of at least 100 square miles and a thickness up to half the height of the Empire State Building.
"The freshwater stored in this ice island could keep the Delaware or Hudson rivers flowing for more than two years. It could also keep all U.S. public tap water flowing for 120 days," said Andreas Muenchow, associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware.
The last time such a massive ice island formed was in 1962 when Ward Hunt Ice Shelf calved a 230 square-mile island, smaller pieces of which became lodged between real islands inside Nares Strait.
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