Scientists warn Antarctic ‘Doomsday Glacier’ on brink of collapse, threat ooms

Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, popularly dubbed the “Doomsday Glacier” has been a new focus of discovery for scientists. The researchers also noticed that the glacier ice is thinning at a faster rate and appears to be on a trajectory that may result in the glacier’s disintegration which would in turn increase worldwide tidal waters.

Research has shown that over the course of this century, this glacier’s ice loss will be exacerbated. Rob Larter warns, a marine geophysicist from the British Antarctic Survey, “Thwaites’ retreat has significantly sped up over the last 30 years. Our findings suggest it is poised to retreat even more rapidly.”

The scientists expect both Thwaites Glacier as well as the Antarctic Ice Sheet to break apart within the next two hundred years. Thwaites itself holds enough ice to raise sea level by more than over 70 centimeters. When its collapse does come, experts are foreseeing a sea level rise of approximately 10 feet, which would pose a great danger to coastal cities all over the world.

The International Thwaites Glacier  collaborations (ITGC) took place to conduct experiments about the glacier for six years. One significant experiment involved use of a robot called Icefin that explored and took pictures at the grounding line where the ice starts to float; the point is crucial since this is where the glacier comes into contact with the ocean. Kiya Riverman, a glaciologist from the university of Portland stated, “For glaciologists, this was like the moon landing.”

According to the Geosciences journal, the images captured by Icefin exhibited new areas conspicuous to melting, in which warm sea water penetrated deep fissures within the glacier and created terrace patterns in the ice. Global tides satellite and GPS data indicated that seawater flood under the glacier pushes up to six miles inwards and this quickens the rate of melting.

Researchers also gathered data from marine sedimentary cores to determine the evolution of the glacier. This analysis was, however, directed by Julia Wellner from the university Houston.  Wellner said “These findings give us a broader understanding of ice behavior, providing more detail than what we can see from modern observations.”

Geoscientists were worried that due to the large crack on the Thwaites ice shelves, there would be large ice cliffs behind them that would not last, but chances of this happening are bleak according to computer models. Researchers pointed towards the possibility that Thwaites and Antarctic Ice sheets may be completely gone by the end of the 23rd century. The demise of this glacier seems unavoidable,even if we take measures like curbing the usage of fossil fuels. 

The ITGC research points towards the need to delve deep into the study of glaciers for us to further understand and preserve them.Eric Rignot, a glaciologist at the University of California,Irvine said “Although we’ve made progress, there’s still considerable uncertainty about what lies ahead. I’m deeply concerned that this region of Antarctica is already in the process of collapse.”

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