Thwaites Glacier : Study
Scientists studying Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier say warm water is seeping into its weak spots, worsening melting caused by rising temperatures.
- Thwaites Glacier nicknamed the “Doomsday glacier,” is a fast-moving glacier in West Antarctica.
- It covers an area roughly the size of Great Britain.
- It is 120 km wide at its broadest.
- The glacier is rapidly losing ice to the ocean in response to climate change and changes in ocean circulation.
- It loses more than 50 billion tons of ice to the ocean yearly, contributing to about 4% of the annual sea level rise.
- The glacier holds enough water to raise global sea levels by 65 centimeters.
- It has retreated by about 14 kilometers since the late 1990s.
- It also acts as a buffer, holding back neighboring glaciers that contain around three meters of potential sea level rise.
