'Doomsday' glacier set to melt faster and swell se

🎀 Highlights

Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is melting faster due to tidal action, potentially leading to catastrophic sea-level rise.

The glacier, roughly the size of Florida, acts as a crucial anchor for the ice sheet. If it collapses, sea levels could rise by 65 centimeters, with the potential for a 3.3-meter rise if the entire ice sheet melts.

Tidal action on the underside of the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic will "inexorably" accelerate melting this century, according to new research by British and American scientists.

underside of Thwaites is insulated by a thin layer of cold water. However, in areas where the parts of the glacier lift off the seabed and the ice begins to float, tidal action is pumping warmer sea water, at high pressure, as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) under the ice.

Increased moisture in the planet's atmosphere, caused by global warming evaporating ocean waters, could result in more Antarctic snow—at least for a while. At a certain point, though, that's expected to switch over to rain and surface melting on the ice, creating a situation where the glacier is melting from above and below. How fast that happens depends in part on nations' progress to slow climate change.

Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is melting faster due to tidal action, potentially leading to catastrophic sea-level rise.

The glacier, roughly the size of Florida, acts as a crucial anchor for the ice sheet. If it collapses, sea levels could rise by 65 centimeters, with the potential for a 3.3-meter rise if the entire ice sheet melts.

Tidal action on the underside of the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic will "inexorably" accelerate melting this century, according to new research by British and American scientists.

underside of Thwaites is insulated by a thin layer of cold water. However, in areas where the parts of the glacier lift off the seabed and the ice begins to float, tidal action is pumping warmer sea water, at high pressure, as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) under the ice.

Increased moisture in the planet's atmosphere, caused by global warming evaporating ocean waters, could result in more Antarctic snow—at least for a while. At a certain point, though, that's expected to switch over to rain and surface melting on the ice, creating a situation where the glacier is melting from above and below. How fast that happens depends in part on nations' progress to slow climate change.