The Pine Island Glacier on the west side of Antarctica is the fastest flowing, longest glacier on Earth, and it has just cracked to produce a giant iceberg.

The Pine Island Glacier on the west side of Antarctica is the fastest flowing, longest glacier in Antarctica, and it has just broken to produce a giant iceberg.

The iceberg that broke off is around 277 square miles, more than half the size of New York City.

Using a satellite, researchers have been keeping an eye on the Pine Island Glacier, ever since NASA captured the first pictures of it cracking in October of 2011.

The glacier melt might be caused by warmer ocean water getting underneath the ice shelf.

Icebergs break off from the glacier naturally every 6 to 10 years, and significantly large icebergs also reportedly broke off in 2001 and 2007.

Professor David Vaughan from the British Antarctic Survey said that it “is the most rapidly shrinking glacier on the planet. It's losing more ice than any other glacier on the planet, and it's contributing to sea level rise faster than any other glacier on the planet. That makes it worthy of study.”

Now researchers are watching the Pine Island Glacier's iceberg to see how long it takes to melt, and how it will affect the Southern Antarctic Ocean.