Concern as ‘Doomsday Glacier’ melting faster than expected

SCIENTISTS are warning that a huge glacier in the Antarctica is melting faster than previously thought – which could cause untold environmental disasters throughout the world.

The Thwaite’s Glacier, better known as the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ due to the catastrophic rise in sea levels that would be caused by its collapse, is a formation said to be the size of Florida and located in West Antarctica.

The CNN reported this week that the glacier is held in place by an ice shelf that fixes it to land and protects against sea level rise. It is this ‘grounding zone’ that is being increasingly damaged by rising sea temperatures.

Scientists explain that deep cracks and ‘staircase formations’ have been found along the bottom of the shelf, which allow warmer water to penetrate into the ice and speed up melting.

A report issued this week by Nature magazine confirmed that, “Thwaites may have already entered a state of rapid and irreversible ice loss, and its complete collapse within centuries would contribute 65 cm to the global sea level.”

Although it has been known for years that the Doomsday Glacier is gradually shrinking, these new findings have alarmed experts, as disappearance of the shelf could lead to the process speeding up and becoming irreversible.

A report was issued in 2021 predicting that the shelf could disappear “within the next five years”, a warning that has been compounded by the new discoveries.

This week’s revelations come just days after the publication of a study confirming the presence of high levels of ‘forever chemicals’ in Arctic ice.

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