One of the largest icebergs ever recorded just broke free of Antarctica

"The demise of ice shelves in the Peninsula is well-documented and related to climate warming," said Eric Rignot, a professor of Earth System Science at University of California at Irvine and a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

In fact, Larsen C is one of the last ice shelves in this region still standing. Larsen A disintegrated in 1995, Larsen B in 2002, the Wilkins Ice Shelf continued to break up through at least 2013, and according to Rignot, Larsen C and the George VI Ice Shelf are "not looking good." It may take years for us to know the fate of Larsen C, however.