The West Antarctic ice sheet has enough water to raise sea levels by 16 feet.
As the planet warms, giant sheets of ice near the poles have been melting off. Earlier this year, we reported how the
collapsed in a matter of days. What made the collapse even more alarming was the fact that it was located in East Antarctica, which was earlier assumed to be a solid, immovable block of ice by researchers.In the short term, climate scientists are keen to learn which other ice shelves and glaciers are at risk of melting, and the Thwaites Glacier is one of the top concerns.The Thwaites Glacier is located in West Antarctica and is one of the widest glaciers on the planet.
By the mid-1980s, researchers had determined that the glacier was at a high risk of collapse since it was grounded on the seabed rather than dry land. As a result, warm ocean currents could melt the glacier from below and destabilize it, even though evidence for the same was found only in 2020,A study in 2021 showed that the Thwaites Ice Shelf that holds the glacier from flowing off into the ocean was also at risk of shattering in just five years. The Thwaites Glacier has an area of 74,131 sq.
The researchers are of the opinion that the glacier is holding onto the giant sheet of Antarctic ice by "its fingernails," and it could recede rapidly once it is past the seabed ridge that is keeping it in its place. They further warned that theseand that we need to prepare for big changes in a period of time that is as short as a year or two.
The researchers will attempt to retrieve samples from the sea bed to determine when the previous retreats occurred. The research findings were published in the journalUnderstanding the recent history of Thwaites Glacier, and the processes controlling its ongoing retreat, is key to projecting Antarctic contributions to future sea-level rise. Of particular concern is how the glacier grounding zone might evolve over coming decades where it is stabilized by sea-floor bathymetric highs.
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