More Bad News for Antarctica's 'Doomsday Glacier': It's Disintegrating Faster Than We Predicted

The Washington Post reports:A large glacier in Antarctica that could raise sea levels several feet is disintegrating faster than last predicted, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience. The Thwaites Glacier - dubbed the "doomsday glacier" because scientists estimate that without it and its supporting ice shelves, sea levels could rise more than 3 to 10 feet - lies in the western part of the continent. After recently mapping it in high-resolution, a group of international researchers found that the glacial expanse experienced a phase of "rapid retreat" sometime in the past two centuries - over a duration of less than six months. NBC News puts this in context:"About 100 years ago, it retreated faster than it is currently retreating... you could say that's good news because it's not so bad now compared to what it was in the past," Anna Wihlin, a co-author of the study and a professor of physical oceanography at Sweden's Gothenburg University, told NBC News. "But you can also say that it's bad news, because it could happen again." But the Washington Post adds this about where we are now:According to a news release accompanying the study, researchers concluded that the glacier had "lost contact with a seabed ridge" and is now retreating at a speed of 1.3 miles per year - a rate double what they predicted between 2011 and 2019. Unlike some other glaciers that are connected to dry land, Thwaites is grounded in the seabed, making it more vulnerable to warming waters as a result of human-induced climate change. One of the study's co-authors warns that once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed, "we should expect to see big changes over small time scales in the future - even from one year to the next." The article also notes that Thwaites already accounts for about 4% of the current annual rise in sea levels...

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