Scientists find serious melting beneath the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ in Antarctica

Thwaites Glacier, an ice formation the size of Florida, could change the world. And some of our most vulnerable places are at greater risk than previously thought, according to the latest research.

There is a huge amount of ice in Thwaites, gradually raising the sea level by more than 2 feet.(opens in new tab)Collapse in warmer climates could free more feet from nearby glaciers. Antarctic glaciers have become destabilized and have retreated about 9 miles since the 1990s. The gradual melting of much of it over the next decades and centuries could submerge large portions of coastal cities and populated areas around the world and be easily overwhelmed by storms. For this reason, scientists are now diligently studying where the Thwaites are melting. how fast it meltsThese are monumental issues for future inhabitants of the Earth.

We take it from researchers who traverse the continent’s rugged ice fields to document the rapid changes in Thwaites.

Sridhar Anandakrishnan, professor of glaciology at Pennsylvania State University, tells Mashable in 2021:

That’s why, for better or worse, Thwaites earned the nickname “The Ending Glacier.” But crucially, climate scientists stress that civilization is not inherently doomed. We have energy options that can limit the worst consequences of climate change.

A new study in 2023 further shows how glaciers are melting straight from sources in West Antarctica. A key point lies beneath the Thwaites ice shelf, the end of the glacier reaching above the sea. Importantly, the ice shelves pierce the ocean floor, acting like “corks in bottles”, preventing the remaining giant glaciers from flowing unimpeded into the ocean. Therefore, if ice shelves eventually disappear, glaciers may also disappear (although this process goes on over decades and centuries).

Glaciologists can drill about 2,000 feet into the Thwaites ice shelf and lower a yellow mini-submarine-like robot called Icefin into the dark water to see what’s happening in this vulnerable grounded area. I made itRecent research(opens in new tab)just published in a scientific journal Nature(opens in new tab), We present two main findings.

• Glaciers continue to melt underwater, but along the flat expanse that dominates the ice shelf, this thinning is slower than researchers expected (about 6 to 16 feet per year, or 2 to 10 feet per year). 5 meters).

• not yet, Thwaites is melting faster than expected in cracks under critical floating ice shelves. Scientists believe that relatively warm water seeps into natural fissures and crevasses, amplifying melting at these weak points (see video below).

“Thwaites is the only place in Antarctica that has the potential to dump vast amounts of water into the ocean over the next few decades.”

Glaciologists are still uncovering complex underwater melting mechanisms, but the picture is clear. Glaciers are losing ice. And even a small amount of ice loss in this critical landing zone can lead to overall ice loss.

“Our results are surprising, but the glacier is still in trouble,” said Peter Davis, an oceanographer with the British Antarctic Survey who made some of the recent measurements at Thwaites, in a statement.(opens in new tab)“If ice shelves and glaciers were in balance, the amount of ice flowing out of the continents would match the amount of ice lost through melting and iceberg breakup. What we found was that despite the small amount of melting, “There is still rapid glacial retreat, so it doesn’t look like it will take long for the glacier to become unbalanced.”

What Scientists Saw Under the Terminal Glacier

On a recent excursion to West Antarctica, researchers camped on the remote Thwaites Ice Shelf and dropped a robotic ice fin into the water below. A rare image shown in the British Antarctic Survey video below reveals what is happening to the thinning ice. The fissure has melted away leaving a ‘step-like’ structure on the underside of the Domesday Glacier.

“Warm water seeps into the cracks, helping to wear away the weakest parts of the glacier,” said Britney Schmidt, an associate professor of astronomy and geo-atmospheric sciences at Cornell University who was involved in the new Thwaites study.

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Icefin’s footage is invaluable as there is currently no other way to access this almost unreachable zone, one of the most remote places on earth. And the new footage highlights an important point. Researchers still don’t fully understand the melting processes beneath one of the world’s largest and most important glaciers.

“This system is very complex and shows that we need to rethink how the ocean melts ice, especially in places like Thwaites,” Davis said.

How much sea level rise is expected?

Already, global sea levels have risen about 8 to 9 inches since the late 1800s.(opens in new tab)But there is much more in store.

• Thwaites Melt today contributes 4%(opens in new tab) to sea level rise.But that number could skyrocket in the coming decades and centuries as glaciers move away from the ocean floor and “the cork pops out of the bottle,” so to speak. ,in the end feet of sea level rise.

• Melting ice and thermal expansion of the ocean are accelerating sea level rise. The ocean is currently rising by about one-eighth of an inch each year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expects sea levels around the United States to rise another foot between now and 2050.(opens in new tab).

• Climate scientists predict that global sea levels will rise 1.5 to 2.5 feet by the end of this century and will continue to rise. The extent depends largely on how giant glaciers like Thwaites and nearby Pine Island respond to warming conditions and warmed waters.

Importantly, the impact of warming on ice masses like Greenland and Antarctica is highly dependent on the most unpredictable part of the climate change equation: humans. Atmospheric carbon dioxide, which traps heat, has surged over the last century due to the staggering burning of fossil fuels. CO2 levels are now at their highest in over 3 million years of history. how far will they go?