Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is losing mass faster than scientists previously estimated, and warm seawater pushing underneath it could double its contribution to global sea-level rise this century.
New research published this week in the journal Nature Communications found that the world’s largest glacier could add 1.2 inches (30mm) to sea levels even if global warming does not accelerate further. Glaciologists from the University of California and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory concluded that seawater is flowing miles beneath the ice and melting its core.
Nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier”, Thwaites covers about 192,000 square kilometres, roughly the size of Senegal and larger than Florida. It currently accounts for around four percent of all global sea-level rise. Studies have calculated that the glacier has lost more than 1,000 billion tonnes of ice since 2000 and keeps losing 50 billion tonnes per year.
The glacier acts as a barrier holding back the far larger West Antarctic ice sheet. Researchers have warned for decades that its collapse would sharply raise sea levels worldwide, although they do not project that happening for many decades or longer.
Source: News One USA
