An iceberg nearly twice the size of Hong Kong island is drifting towards Australia. It is currently 1700 kilometres south of the continent and was discovered on satellite images.

An Australian research institute has estimated that the floe, which is 19-kilometers long, broke away from the ice at the South Pole ten years ago and has only been drifting northwards for a short time. It says such an event occurs perhaps once or twice in a century.

The iceberg is not the only one in the region. Hundreds of other floes, most of them no more than 200 metres long, are currently drifting towards New Zealand. Ships in the area have been warned of their presence.

The Antarctic Peninsula, from which the iceberg broke free, has been more affected by global warming than almost any other region on Earth. Scientists say that in the past 50 years, temperatures there have risen by 2.5 degrees Celsius. That is around six times the global average.
 

Satellite image showing iceberg by ANP/EPA/NASA