The expedition to Thwaites is part of the race to discover how fast the massive glacier is melting and what that will mean for global sea level rise over the next century. But satellite monitoring indicates this glacier is melting at an accelerating rate. Behind the glacier lies an even larger body of ice that, for as long as Thwaites is intact, is protected from contact with too-warm waters. Seawater that is a few degrees above freezing is melting the ice shelf from below. Put simply, it causes sea levels to rise. Antarctica's doomsday glacier is melting. Thwaites has been described as one of the world's most dangerous glaciers because its demise could lead to rapid changes in global sea levels. Over the past 30 years, ice loss from Thwaites and its neighbouring glaciers has increased more than fivefold, accounting for more than 4% of global sea-level rise. What happens when it melts? Last year, an immense cavity was found under the glacier.. Thwaites holds back a … ( See what a 10 billion ton chunk of ice looks like in this video ). A massive research effort is under way to understand Antarctica's Thwaites glacier before it is too late. Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glaciers, for example, are losing about 100 billion tons of ice each year, and more in bad years. The melting of the glacier already accounts for about 4% of global sea level rise. Without the Thwaites … If the glacier melts entirely, it could trigger a 10-foot rise in sea levels. From The Guardian. Thwaites Glacier), sometimes referred to as the Doomsday Glacier, is an unusually broad and vast Antarctic glacier flowing into the Pine Island Bay, part of the Amundsen Sea, east of Mount Murphy, on the Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land Its surface speeds exceed 2 kilometres per year (1.2 miles per year) near its grounding line. A massive one that poses such risk it's been branded the 'Doomsday Glacier". When glaciers melt, because that water is stored on land, the runoff significantly increases the amount of … NASA said sea levels could rise by 2 additional feet if the glacier collapses, which studies predict could happen in 50 to 100 years. Can we save it in time? ... the same wind patterns led to a lot of surface melting," he said. It’s the latest bad sign for the Thwaites Glacier, which has recorded some of the most rapid melt rates out of anywhere in Antarctica. Immediately, we'd get about 2 feet of sea level rise. The latest warning over Antarctica’s melting glaciers comes amid a record heatwave on the other side of the planet in the Arctic. The Thwaites Glacier also slows the melting of other glaciers, which could raise sea levels an additional 8 feet if they melted. From the Guardian: An international team of scientists has reached the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica and is preparing to drill through more than half a kilometre of ice into the dark waters beneath. The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is the size of Britain. Sea ice forms and melts strictly in the ocean whereas glaciers are formed on land. If all glacial ice were to melt, it would cause the sea level to rise 230 feet around the world. What Would Happen If The Pine Island Glacier Melts? The study comes on the heels of research published last week that found deep channels under the Thwaites Glacier may be allowing warm ocean water to melt the underside of its ice. ... sea level rise has roughly doubled since 1990 — and could worsen if the Thwaites Glacier were to melt. Glaciers are huge sheets of ice moving very slowly, and contain vast amounts of … The Thwaites Glacier is...a glacier. Icebergs are chunks of glacial ice that break off glaciers and fall into the ocean. 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