The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, known as the “Doomsday Glacier” because of its size and potential impact on global sea levels, is now rapidly melting due to rising water temperatures.
The size of the glacier is comparable to the size of the state of Florida. Its melting threatens to raise the level of the World Ocean by half a meter, and can also destabilize the state of neighboring glaciers, which will lead to a rise in water levels by three meters, according to a study published in the scientific journal Nature.
Scientists have found that warm water seeps into cracks and other openings at the bottom of the glacier, causing it to melt at a rate of 30 meters per year. The water temperature near the glacier is 1.5 degrees above freezing. Britney Schmidt, a co-author of the study, a specialist from Cornell University, emphasized that the issue of the melting of the Thwaites Glacier is “something that everyone should worry about.”
“We expect big changes in the near future once the glacier retreats over the shallow ridge in its bed,” said marine geophysicist Robert Larter, co-author of the study from the British Antarctic Survey.
Source: Rosbalt
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