Close-up of the world's largest iceberg drifting in Antarctica

According to satellite images, the giant iceberg is drifting past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, fueled by strong winds and ocean currents.

With an area of ​​nearly 4,000 square kilometers, the iceberg in Antarctica named A23a is nearly three times the size of New York City in the US.

Since breaking away from the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in West Antarctica in 1986, A23a - once home to a Soviet research station - has been stationary, with its base stuck at the bottom of the Weddell Sea.

Scientists believe the iceberg's breakaway from Antarctica was a natural phenomenon. However, it is a warning of the potentially dire impacts of rising global sea levels.

There are a number of reasons why A23a has caught people's attention, said Robbie Mallett, a sea ice scientist and honorary research fellow at University College London.

“First of all, this iceberg is huge. It’s the largest iceberg in the world right now. It’s a metaphor for how big this iceberg and Antarctica are. It’s just staggeringly big and it’s a reminder of how big the risks are with rising sea levels,” Mallett told CNBC at the COP28 climate conference.

Previously, this iceberg weighing nearly 1 trillion tons was seen drifting freely off the Antarctic sea towards the Southern Ocean.

The iceberg is expected to drift into an area known as “iceberg alley,” putting it in the general path of icebergs drifting toward the mountainous island of South Georgia.