The massive “doomsday glacier” known for its rapid destabilization is undergoing a “vigorous ice melt” that scientists say could reshape sea level rise projections.
In a new study, glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine, found that warm, high-pressure ocean water is seeping beneath West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, making it more vulnerable to melting than previously thought. The glacier is roughly 80 miles across, the widest on Earth. It packs so much ice that if it were to completely collapse, it could singlehandedly cause global sea levels to rise by more than two feet, according to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, prompting its moniker as the “Doomsday Glacier.”
The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was used on data scientists gathered from March to June last year. It was previously difficult to “figure out what was happening” because of limited, sporadic data, UC Irvine professor and lead author Eric Rignot said. But using satellites, they were able to observe what was happening better than ever.
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The massive “doomsday glacier” known for its rapid destabilization is undergoing a “vigorous ice melt” that scientists say could reshape sea level rise projections.
In a new study, glaciologists from the University of California, Irvine, found that warm, high-pressure ocean water is seeping beneath West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, making it more vulnerable to melting than previously thought. The glacier is roughly 80 miles across, the widest on Earth. It packs so much ice that if it were to completely collapse, it could singlehandedly cause global sea levels to rise by more than two feet, according to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, prompting its moniker as the “Doomsday Glacier.”
The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was used on data scientists gathered from March to June last year. It was previously difficult to “figure out what was happening” because of limited, sporadic data, UC Irvine professor and lead author Eric Rignot said. But using satellites, they were able to observe what was happening better than ever.
**Read more:** [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doomsday-glacier-ice-melt-sea-level-rise-projections/?ftag=CNM-05-10abh9g](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doomsday-glacier-ice-melt-sea-level-rise-projections/?ftag=CNM-05-10abh9g)
I look forward to the updated modelling.