The latest research is published in two papers in the journal The Cryosphere, and can be accessed here and here. ... Ice reflects sunlight; and when this ice disappears, global warming increases at a much faster rate. Thwaites Glacier is melting at an alarming rate, triggering fears over rising sea levels Share on Twitter (opens new window) Share on Facebook (opens new window) This in turn will further accelerate thinning of the glacier and grounding line retreat.". Antarctica's colossal Thwaites Glacier is melting fast - and scientists may have discovered why. Today, it's more like 80 billion tonnes. This does ★★★★â˜. The Thwaites Glacier is melting … and it is melting fast. If Thwaites were to collapse, it could lead to an increase in sea levels of around 25 inches (64 centimeters) -- and the researchers are trying to find out how soon this is likely to happen. Seawater that is a few degrees above freezing is melting the ice shelf from below. These deviations reflected the seafloor's undulations beneath the shelf. MELT is an ice-based project to understand how warm waters are affecting the Thwaites Glacier at the grounding line – the point where the glacier goes afloat to become ice shelf. Exceptional sea-ice break up in early 2019 enabled the icebreaker to survey more than 2,000 square kilometers of sea floor at the glacier's ice front. EU and UK negotiators call in leaders in last ditch effort to secure a trade deal. Thwaites is the most worrying glacier in Antarctica because of its size — it is unusually wide, presenting a 75-mile front of ice to the ocean, without any rocks or mountains to hem it in. How many trade deals has the UK done so far? Warming, fracturing, melting. In the 1990s it was losing just over 10 billion tonnes of ice a year. ... Over the past three decades, the rate of ice loss from Thwaites… .css-14iz86j-BoldText{font-weight:bold;}Scientists may just have identified Thwaites Glacier's Achilles heel. “The more this marine ice sheet instability occurs, the wider the range of possible future sea level rise becomes,” Robel says. M. S. Waibel. 1 Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica. But projecting future melt rates, and predicting whether Thwaites will trigger a runaway collapse, is nearly impossible without on-the-ground data. ‘Teetering at the edge’: Scientists warn of rapid melting of Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday glacier’ Thwaites glacier is losing ice at an accelerating rate, threatening catastrophic sea-level rise Glaciologists have described Thwaites Glacier as the "most important" glacier in the world, the "riskiest" glacier, even the "doomsday" glacier. Thwaites glacier has been dubbed the world’s most deadly glacier because of its estimated 2.2 million cubic kilometres of ice, enough to raise seas by 3.3 to 5 metres, depending on the timescale. Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos, .css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link{color:inherit;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited{color:#696969;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link:hover,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited:hover,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link:focus,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited:focus{color:#B80000;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:link::after,.css-1hlxxic-PromoLink:visited::after{content:'';position:absolute;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;left:0;z-index:2;}Johnson and EU chief seek to break Brexit deadlock. Nick-named the Doomsday glacier, Thwaites glacier flows off the west of the Antarctic and is dumping billions of tonnes of ice into the ocean, pushing up global sea-levels. © 2020 BBC. "I think this is a big step towards helping understand that," he added. Even by the standards of Antarctica, there are few places as remote and hostile as Thwaites Glacier. A simpler solution would be to "tackle climate change.". Fig. A complete collapse of the Thwaites Glacier could significantly affect global sea levels, according to scientists. "Thwaites Glacier itself is probably one of the most significant glaciers in West Antarctica, because it's so large, because we can see it's changing today," Dr. Tom Jordan, an aero-geophysicist at BAS who led the airborne survey, told CNN. But recent measurements show that the melting of the glacier is speeding up, … In the 1990s it was losing just over 10 billion tonnes of ice a year. Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica NASA/OIB/Jeremy Harbeck First published on … Antarctica's colossal Thwaites Glacier is melting fast -- and scientists may have discovered why By Emma Reynolds, CNN Updated 1619 GMT (0019 HKT) September 9, 2020 They also note that volcanic activity could be increasing the rate of collapse of the Thwaites Glacier, which is adjacent to the Pine Island Glacier. Sea level rise linked to warming has already been linked with … The good and bad news about what Congress grasps about the most threatening glacier on Earth, the melting Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica. Their scientists sailed a ship equipped with an echo-sounder right up to the glacier's ice cliffs, to trace the shape of the seabed below. Over the past three decades, the rate of ice loss from Thwaites, which is about the size of Great Britain or the US state of Florida, and its neighboring glaciers has increased more than five-fold. The high cliffs at the ice front of Thwaites Glacier, which accounts for about 4% of global sea-level rise. Last year, a team of British and American scientists set up camp on the glacier… But the current melting trend would suggest this situation won't last much longer, says BAS's Dr Robert Larter. Despite this stable rate of grounding-line retreat, the melt rate on this side of the glacier is extremely high. The area surveyed had been hidden beneath part of the floating ice shelf extending from Thwaites Glacier, which broke off in 2002, and was then often inaccessible due to thick sea-ice cover. Antarctica's colossal Thwaites Glacier is melting fast -- and scientists may have discovered why By Emma Reynolds, CNN Updated 1619 GMT (0019 HKT) September 9, 2020 Earier this month, the ice shelf of Antarctica's Thwaites glacier was found to be melting much faster than previously thought and is now nearly a quarter thinner than it was back in 1970s. In conducting their survey, scientists also now have a better idea of the general roughness of the seafloor. The new information refines the volumes for ingressing warm water that can be considered possible under different scenarios. But satellite monitoring indicates this glacier is melting at an accelerating rate. Antarctica's colossal Thwaites Glacier is melting fast - and scientists may have discovered why. The team collected data from the glacier and adjoining Dotson and Crosson ice shelves from January to March 2019. Over the past three decades, the rate of ice loss from Thwaites and its neighboring glaciers has increased more than five-fold. Scientists say the glacier is responsible for about four percent of global sea level rise. It's information that will be used to try to predict the ice stream's future. The two datasets taken together now provide the best view yet of Thwaites' underlying topography. The Thwaites Glacier also slows the melting of other glaciers, which could raise sea levels an additional 8 feet if they melted. "When we were there in 2019, we were able to get right up to the ice shelf cliffs, and the reason we could do that and make our observations was because the icebergs and sea-ice that have always been there historically are starting to disappear.". Scientists from the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) collected data by flying over the glacier in a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Twin Otter aircraft and mapping the sea floor from the US Antarctic Program icebreaker RV Nathaniel B. Palmer. “Not only that… Before now, he said, the ITGC has not been able to precisely quantify sea-level rise in West Antarctica "because there was so much uncertainty about understanding the ice sheet processes and how the glaciers will over time respond.". How are students travelling home for Christmas? The melting rate has tripled since 2007, according to one new data point on the health of West Antarctica that was published this year. "At the end, we will be able to say to governments and policy-makers, this is what's going to happen ... we will actually have a proper, well-constrained estimate of what's going to happen to Thwaites Glacier," said Jordan. An Antarctic glacier, the size of Great Britain, is melting at an alarming rate, according to new research. Glacial melting in Antarctica may become irreversible. By CNN. Even though this rate of grounding line retreat is steady, the rate of melting is incredibly high. ICYMI: Covid street fight and near cat catastrophe. .css-8h1dth-Link{font-family:ReithSans,Helvetica,Arial,freesans,sans-serif;font-weight:700;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;color:#FFFFFF;}.css-8h1dth-Link:hover,.css-8h1dth-Link:focus{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}Read about our approach to external linking. ... suggested that the ice shelf is thinning at a rate … School during Covid: 'Got to work twice as hard' VideoSchool during Covid: 'Got to work twice as hard', Beirut blast: The ship of ‘lost lives and dreams’ VideoBeirut blast: The ship of ‘lost lives and dreams’. Think of six football pitches back to back," said Dr Kelly Hogan from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). That's worrying news for coastal cities. Thwaites Glacier is melting at an alarming rate, triggering fears over rising sea levels. Melt rates are increasing. The situation is so bad that it could happen even under present-day ice-melting rates. It's a majestic sight, with its buoyant front, or "ice shelf", pushing far out to sea and kicking off huge icebergs. Rate of Mass Loss Across the Instability Threshold for Thwaites Glacier Determines Rate of Mass Loss for Entire Basin. ‘Teetering at the edge’: Scientists warn of rapid melting of Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday glacier’ Thwaites glacier is losing ice at an accelerating rate, threatening catastrophic sea-level rise Thwaites Glacier and the surrounding coastal region alone could raise sea levels by half a meter (1.6 feet) within 100 years. Advances in satellite imagery over the past few decades mean scientists can estimate how much ice Thwaites is losing — nearly 80 gigatons a year, a six-fold increase from 25 years ago. They trace the path of a network of deep channels that cut through a ridge before joining up to form a major cavity under the ice shelf. A ROGUE glacier dubbed "the world's most dangerous" risks melting away completely – sparking a catastrophic global sea level rise. At the moment, the eastern side of the ice shelf is hooked on to a large ridge, which gives it stability. Flowing off the west of the Antarctic continent, Thwaites is almost as big as Great Britain. Roughly the size of Florida, Thwaites' melting is currently responsible for about 4 percent of global sea level rise, according to NASA in its recent study on the glacier's giant hole. But satellite monitoring indicates this glacier is melting at an accelerating rate. A plane was also flown back and forth across the shelf to measure small variations in the pull of gravity. Once scientists can demonstrate the expected sea-level rise relating to West Antarctica, he said, they will have more evidence when calling for action to mitigate climate change. Jordan said that suggestions of geoengineering and blocking the channels is not logistically feasible at such a remote site. The Thwaites Glacier is the largest, most menacing source of rising sea levels all over the world, and it is melting at an alarming rate. The growing cavity sits in West Antarctica at the bottom of Thwaites Glacier, which is about as big as Florida and contains enough ice to contribute more than 2 … This will allow the glacier’s potential sea-level contribution to be more accurately predicted. Thwaites glacier, which is part of the west Antarctic ice sheet, has lost an estimated 540bn tonnes of ice since the 1980s. ... Thwaites: 'Doomsday Glacier' vulnerability seen in new maps. And the rate the Thwaites Glacier is melting has accelerated fivefold in the last 30 years. VideoICYMI: Covid street fight and near cat catastrophe. What is next for BAFTA winner Michaela Coel? Currently, the study suggests West Antarctica as a whole is losing ice at a rate of about 159 billion metric tons each year—up from 53 billion tons in 1992. Satellite altimeters measure the height of the ice sheets, which can be used to calculate mass and melt rate. Warm water has recently been recorded near the Thwaites Glacier grounding line—the location where the glacial ice rests on the seafloor. British and American scientists have had to temporarily suspend their investigations at Thwaites because of the Covid-19 crisis. "And because they are so deep, and so wide - this allows a lot more water to get at, and melt, Thwaites' floating front as well as its ice that rests on the seabed," she told BBC News. The very large net loss of ice, between nearly 90 billion tons per year for the basin encompassing Thwaites and adjacent smaller glaciers, has caused a strong local reduction in the gravitational pull—with the mass now in the ocean, there is less mass on the ice … "These channels had not been mapped before in this kind of detail, and what we've discovered is that they're actually much bigger than anyone thought - up to 600m deep. The Thwaites Glacier seen from above. Sea and airborne surveys show how Antarctica's mighty Thwaites ice stream can be melted from below. The UK and the US joined forces in 2019 to investigate Thwaites. Scientists need real-world data to corral their models so that when they run simulations of possible future behaviour, they get realistic outcomes. Thwaites is the most worrying glacier in Antarctica because of its size — it is unusually wide, presenting a 75-mile front of ice to the ocean, without any rocks or mountains to hem it in. Johnson and EU chief seek to break Brexit deadlock, ICYMI: Covid street fight and near cat catastrophe. This is the last in a series, Into the Thaw: Decoding Thwaites Glacier . "Even before ice shelf break-up, the unpinning and thinning will reduce the buttressing effect of the ice shelf on the glacier upstream of it, resulting in increased ice flow velocity. In early 2019, researchers using ice-penetrating radar spotted a gigantic cavity on the underside of the glacier about two-thirds the size of … On January 29, 2019, as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, over twenty scientists from the United Kingdom, United States, and Sweden embarked on the first ship-based research voyage to the Thwaites Glacier. (B) Shaded-relief bed topography (blue) with 50-m contour levels (white) (), grounding lines color-coded from 1992 to 2017, and retreat rates for 1992–2011 (green circle) versus 2011–2017 (red circle) in kilometer per year.Thick yellow arrows indicate CDW pathways (). Teams were due to head back to the glacier this austral summer, but the location's remoteness means the risks are too great should anyone fall ill. Once the coronavirus outbreak has been properly contained, the scientists will return, however. And once it starts to retreat, it will just keep retreating.". Jordan said the next phase was to incorporate the data from the channels, some of them 2,600 feet (800 meters) deep, into simulations of how the ice sheet will respond into the future. Read about our approach to external linking. Thwaites Glacier is melting fast. Such increases threaten flooding in coastal cities around the world, including the East Coast of the United States. Thwaites Glacier is melting fast and if it destabilizes, it could trigger close to an 11-foot rise in sea level. The so-called Thwaites 'doomsday glacier' in Western Antarctica is the size of Britain and is known to be melting at an alarming rate. Even though this rate of grounding line retreat is steady, the rate of melting is incredibly high. Thwaites Glacier is melting fast, and scientists fear its collapse could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. ... sea level rise has roughly doubled since 1990 — and could worsen if the Thwaites Glacier were to melt. Undergraduate students contribute to Thwaites Glacier research January 27, 2020 From the ITGC Seven undergraduate engineering students at the University of Colorado Boulder spent a year working as part of the Thwaites-Amundsen Regional Survey and Network (TARSAN) project team for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). By Jonathan AmosBBC Science Correspondent. Robel, along with scientists Helene Seroussi and Gerard Roe used mathematical analysis and computer models to make projections of sea levels in the future. Not only is more ice melting than previously detected, it shows the 160km wide Thwaites Glacier is not as firmly fixed to the surface of the Antarctic continent as believed. "The connected channels that we've mapped in detail for the first time are the potential pathways for deep-ocean warm water to get in and do damage at that point where the glacier is still grounded on the seabed, where it begins to lift up and float," explained BAS colleague Dr Tom Jordan, "but also to melt the base of the ice shelf, which if you weaken will make the ice further upstream in the glacier flow faster.". 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Ice draining from the gigantic Thwaites Glacier into the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica already accounts for about 4% of global sea-level rise, and scientists say it is highly susceptible to climate change. As a result, much of what scientists know about Thwaites comes from satellites. Thwaites Glacier is melting fast. Thwaites Glacier set to reach ‘tipping point’ that could lead to irreversible melting. But to understand how climate change is driving its decline, scientists need to send instruments through 2,000 feet of ice into the water below. The cause of the melting is thought to be the influx of relatively warm bottom-water drawn in from the wider ocean. Not only is more ice melting than previously detected, it shows the 160km wide Thwaites Glacier is not as firmly fixed to the surface of the Antarctic continent as believed. The hole is startling for its sheer size, but it’s hardly the only one. A team of UK and US researchers have found a series of deep channels beneath Thwaites Glacier thought to be acting as pathways for warm ocean water to melt the underside of the ice. The eastern ice shelf of the Thwaites Glacier seems to have been melting away from beneath much faster than anyone realized. Thwaites Glacier is not stable. ... we nudge the grounding line by applying a slowly increasing anomalous melting rate under the floating part of the model domain. This one Antarctic glacier is the size of the UK and is already responsible for five percent of world sea level rise. Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier is … Thwaites Glacier is melting at an alarming rate, triggering fears over rising sea levels Share on Twitter (opens new window) Share on Facebook (opens new window) The melt rate of West Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier is an important concern, because this glacier alone is currently responsible for about 1 percent of global sea level rise. In the 1990s it was losing just over 10 billion tonnes of ice a year. The glacier has been coming unstuck from a ridge in the bedrock at a steady rate of about 0.4 to 0.5 miles (0.6 to 0.8 kilometers) a year since 1992. A pair of new studies released on Monday share a same ominous message -- that our planet's ice is melting at an alarming rate, which is bad news for global sea levels. No-one thinks this will happen in the short-to-medium term, but Thwaites is considered particularly vulnerable in a warming world, and scientists would like to know precisely how fast any changes might occur. The Thwaites glacier is larger than England, Wales and Northern Ireland put together. Updated 1619 GMT (0019 HKT) September 9, 2020. 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Now, a UK-US team has surveyed the deep seafloor channels in front of the glacier that almost certainly provide the access for warm water to infiltrate and attack Thwaites' underside. Officially called the Thwaites Glacier, this mass of ice nestled into the western edge of Antarctica is melting at an alarming rate. Over the past three decades, the rate of ice loss from Thwaites and its neighboring glaciers has increased more than five-fold. They wanted to understand how possible scenarios of future sea level rise might change over time as a result of marine ice sheet instability. (CNN)Deep channels discovered under the Antarctic's so-called "Doomsday glacier" may be allowing warm ocean water to melt the underside of ice, according to scientists collecting data from an area crucial to understanding sea-level rise. Multiple studies show that, overall, Antarctica is losing ice. The melting of floating ice as it makes contact with the ocean is a key reason why the glacier is coming unglued. "And also, we know that its bed dips down, and it gets deeper and deeper underneath the ice sheet, which means that, theoretically, you can get a process called marine ice sheet instability. The interaction between warmer seawater and colder sea ice at the grounding line has a major impact. (A) Map of Antarctica with Thwaites Glacier (red box). This tells them about the sorts of speeds ice further back in the glacier can achieve as it slides across rock and sediment. Over the past 30 years, the rate of ice loss from Thwaites, which is about the size of the state of Florida, and nearby glaciers has increased more than five-fold. But satellite monitoring indicates this glacier is melting at an accelerating rate. The Thwaites glacier alone contains enough ice to increase global sea levels by about 50cm. Thwaites Glacier, also known as the "doomsday glacier", is reported to be melting quicker than previously thought - scientists are now trying to find out why. A scientific expedition to Thwaites glacier aims to provide vital information about the dangers of melting Antarctic ice Tue 7 Jan 2020 13.32 EST Last modified on … Will a vaccine give us our old lives back? By CNN. "It's amazing to go to a place like Thwaites to see the changes taking place right before your eyes," said Dr Hogan. The glacier has been coming unstuck from a ridge in the bedrock at a steady rate of about 0.4 to 0.5 miles (0.6 to 0.8 kilometers) a year since 1992. A view of the sea ice from the Nathaniel B. Palmer icebreaker on the way to Thwaites Glacier. Russia begins Covid vaccinations in Moscow, 'I had surgery to be three inches taller', It's rare to find art that blows you away. Images show massive Antarctic change in just 9 days, Greenland's ice sheet melted faster than ever before in 2019, study says. 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