Doomsday glacier headed for collapse sooner than expected, triggering deadly sea level rise

Iceberg “dead” ahead?We could witness a major meltdown in the near future: Researchers have discovered that Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is melting at a much faster rate than anticipated, which could cause seas to rise to an apocalyptic level.“I remain very worried that this sector of Antarctica is already in a state of collapse,” Eric Rignot, a glaciologist who works with the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), told Earth.com.Since 2018, ITGC has been investigating the dynamics of the potentially Armaggedon-inducing iceberg, often referred to as the Doomsday Glacier, via ice-breaking expeditions and underwater robots.In doing so, scientists have gleaned some rather disconcerting insights about the colossal ice cube, namely that it’s melting rapidly due to warm sea water flowing underneath.And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.Not only is Thwaites — which measures 74,000 squares miles (roughly the size of Florida) — in serious decline, but it’s diminishing at an astonishing rate that’s expected to increase in the future, per the findings.“Thwaites has been retreating for more than 80 years, accelerating considerably over the past 30 years, and our findings indicate it is set to retreat further and faster,” said Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey who works with the ITGC team.In fact, researchers predict that the glacier could collapse completely within 200 years, which could cause global sea levels to rise by up to ten feet, Earth reports.

This could jeopardize coastal communities across the globe, from Miami, Florida to London, UK.Scientists discovered this ominous phenomenon by dispatching a torpedo-shaped robot called Icefin to Thwaites’ grounding line, the point where ice rises up from the seabed and begins to float — also where the berg’s the most vulnerable, CNN Reported.After analyzing images transmitted by the bot, scientists discovered that the glacier is melting due to war...