“Doomsday Glacier” melts: – Scientists sound the alarm

The Thwaites Glacier in western Antarctica has previously has been referred to by researchers as the “doomsday glacier”. It is about the size of the United Kingdom or Florida – and already accounts for four percent of global sea level rise.

Researchers have now uncovered new cracks in the glacier, which increase the probability that larger parts will erupt in the sea over the next five years, writes The Independent.

Alerts «dramatic changes»

In 2018, the research project International Twaites Glacier Collaboration started up – a collaboration between British and American researchers.

The project is the largest and most complex field program in Antarctica ever, according to BBC. It takes place over a five-year period until 2023, and costs 50 million dollars, equivalent to almost 460 million kroner.

The aim is to understand the processes behind the melting, in order to be able to predict with greater certainty how long it will take before the entire Thwaites glacier is dissolved in water, and what effect it will have on sea level.

– Melts in front of our eyes

Horror scenario

In recent decades, the sea on the west side of Antarctica has become about one degree warmer. It is believed that this “warm” water enters the underside of the ice, so that “tongues” are formed by ice that breaks off.

The glacier already dumps 50 billion tonnes of ice into the sea every year – which has a limited effect on today’s global sea level.

But if the entire glacier melts, it could have far greater consequences. It is assumed that the sea level can rise by 65 cm, he writes BBC. However, such a scenario is unlikely this century, say the researchers, who nevertheless emphasize that the glacier is to a greater extent affected by global warming than before.

– There will be dramatic changes in the front of the glacier, probably in less than a decade. Both published and unpublished studies point in that direction, says researcher Ted Scambos, who is among the main coordinators for International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC), to the channel.

The American glaciologist Erin Christine Pettit fears that the cracks that have now been discovered in the glacier could have major consequences.

– I see it as a car window that has some cracks that slowly but surely propagate, and when you suddenly drive over a speed dump, the glass shatters in all directions, she says, according to the BBC.