Thwaites Glacier is known as the Doomsday glacier for a reason. Photo: International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration
Thwaites Glacier, known around the world as the “Doomsday Glacier”, is not in good shape. Unless you live under a rock with your fingers in your ears and your eyes squeezed shut, you’re likely aware of it, but a six-year investigation into the future of Thwaites adds yet another layer of proof that the massive slab of ice is on the verge of collapse.
The glacier, which is about the same size as Florida, holds a whole lot of ice. Enough to raise global sea levels a little over two feet, which would be catastrophic. But that’s not the only danger a melted Thwaites would pose: its melting would likely trigger a widespread loss of West Antarctica’s ice sheet, which could, according to scientists that’ve devoted their lives to studying these matters, make sea levels rise up to 10 feet. Which would be… bad.
Thwaites sits on a bed of rock that’s below sea level. As the seawater around that bed of rock warms, it’s melting the glacier from below. Since the bedrock slopes down away from land, as the glacier melts and slips into the sea, more and more of it is exposed to the warming sea water.
“It’s not going to instantaneously lead to a catastrophic retreat in the next year or the year after, but, at the same time, we are very sure that Thwaites is going to continue to retreat, and ultimately the retreat is going to accelerate,” says Rob Larter at the British Antarctic Survey. “We can’t put an exact time frame on that.”
The six-year study used over 100 scientists, and deployed aircraft, ships, and underwater robots to get the clearest view of the overall health of the Doomsday Glacier to date.
Despite the fact that it’s difficult to put a date on when the glacier might be lost, researchers believe that by the end of the 23rd century, it will almost certainly be a thing of the past. That is a long time in human terms, and it also means we still have time to influence just how quickly it happens. That, however, means making drastic changes to the way we live, and if time is any teacher, we’re not great at making changes, especially if it means sacrificing creature comforts.
