Doomsday glacier headed for collapse sooner than expected, triggering deadly sea level rise
Iceberg “dead” ahead?
We could witness a major meltdown in the near future: Researchers have discovered that Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is melting at a much faster rate than anticipated, which could cause seas to rise to an apocalyptic level.
“I remain very worried that this sector of Antarctica is already in a state of collapse,” Eric Rignot, a glaciologist who works with the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), told
Since 2018, ITGC has been investigating the dynamics of the potentially Armaggedon-inducing iceberg, often referred to as the Doomsday Glacier, via ice-breaking expeditions and underwater robots.
In doing so, scientists have gleaned some rather disconcerting insights about the colossal ice cube, namely that it’s melting rapidly due to warm sea water flowing underneath.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Not only is Thwaites — which measures — in serious decline, but it’s diminishing at an astonishing rate that’s expected to increase in the future, per the findings.
“Thwaites has been retreating for more than 80 years, accelerating considerably over the past 30 years, and our findings indicate it is set to retreat further and faster,” said Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey who works with the ITGC team.
In fact, researchers predict that the glacier could collapse completely within 200 years, which could cause global sea levels to rise by up to ten feet, Earth reports. This could jeopardize coastal communities across the globe, from Miami, Florida to London, UK.
Scientists discovered this ominous phenomenon by dispatching a torpedo-shaped robot called Icefin to Thwaites’ grounding line, the point where ice rises up from the seabed and begins to float — also where the berg’s the most vulnerable,
After analyzing images transmitted by the bot, scientists discovered that the glacier is melting due to warm sea water infiltrating the deep crevices and “staircase” formations in the ice.
Subsequent analysis found that this warm water has been able to penetrate than 6 miles beneath Thwaites, inducing rapid melting — a recession that likely began in the 1940s due to a powerful El Niño event.
Perhaps the one silver lining is that the probability of the chain reaction of ice shelves collapsing into the ocean is lower than previously predicted by computers.
Nonetheless, researchers predict that both Thwaites and the Antarctic Ice Sheet behind it could vanish by the 23rd Century regardless of whether we scale back our fossil fuel usage.
Researchers are currently working to better understand how glaciers react with the Southern Ocean so they can concoct more accurate models and timelines for this literal breaking point.
“While progress has been made, we still have deep uncertainty about the future,” lamented Rignot.
