2,000 Square Miles of Ice Breaks in Bering Strait, Totally Not a Sign of Global Warming

Impact

It was a sad, cold day in the Bering Strait on March 12, when a 2,000-square-mile chunk of ice decided it was time to break up with the mass it was likely attached to. It took just two days for the split to fully occur, and thanks to NASA's Worldview near real-time satellite imagery program, we can watch the whole thing like a cringeworthy reality TV breakup.

The giant chunk of ice that uncoupled from the greater ice mass was just about the same size as Rhode Island, according to TechInsider. This being the hottest winter in recorded history might have had something to do with it — just a thought. The unprecedented spike worldwide shattered records and certainly raised the heat in both land and ocean temperatures, especially through January and February, as Mic previously reported.

Here's a look at the ice on March 12:

NASA Worldview

And two days later, after it bid adieu: 

NASA Worldview

A side-by-side comparison shows just how epic, alarming and potentially disastrous this enormous breakup is:

Mic/NASA Worldview

This is not an isolated incident. We are likely to watch several more cold breakups after a historically hot winter season. 

Read more: Pluto Is Full of Water Ice, Probably From the Tears It Cried When We Rejected It