Massive chunks of ice are breaking off from Antarctica, and scientists believe climate change isn't the cause.

For years, scientists have been warning about the consequences of climate change looming over the planet, resulting in unprecedented heatwaves and droughts affecting the world. Another consequence of Earth's climate crisis that was previously considered was the loss of the planet's ice sheets, but now researchers believe that this may not necessarily be true, according to Live Science.

Antarctica is rapidly losing ice, and climate change is partly to blame. Massive calving events, such as the one that formed one of the largest icebergs A-68 in 2017, can destabilize glaciers and draw public attention. However, such extreme calving events are very rare, making it difficult for scientists to predict these occurrences and understand whether they are linked to climate change.

In a new study, researchers focused on exploring the potential connections between climate change and the formation of the largest icebergs in Antarctica. To this end, they conducted the first long-term historical analysis of the largest annual icebergs from the icy continent.

These large ice calving events are extremely rare and simultaneously dispersed, prompting scientists to employ statistical approaches tailored for small datasets with long tails. This helped in tracking changes in calving frequency over time.

The team focused on one of the largest icebergs that formed annually from 1976 to 2023. Observations indicate that the surface area of these icebergs reached 11,000 square kilometers.

Observations also revealed that the surface area of the largest annual iceberg has slightly decreased over time; however, despite the growing impact of climate change, the risk of extreme calving has not increased at all. The team's results suggest that during the selected study period, the climate of the icy continent warmed significantly, but the largest iceberg area did not expand. Thus, scientists concluded that extreme calving events are not necessarily a direct consequence of climate change.

Another study by scientists did show that the number of smaller calving events has actually increased over time. This research highlights the role of these events in the calving of Antarctic ice in what is termed "death by a thousand cuts." In simple terms, although the world talks more about giant calving events in Antarctica, the icy continent is actually most vulnerable to multiple smaller calving events, which are the primary source of ice loss.

The authors of the study also believe that we are yet to witness the calving of the largest Antarctic iceberg. While they do not predict an increase in the frequency of extreme calving events, their modeling indicates that an iceberg occurring "once a century" could be roughly the size of Switzerland—about 38,827 square kilometers.