They call it the Doomsday Glacier. A chunk of Antarctic ice as big as Florida and two thirds of a mile thick, the Thwaites Glacier disgorges into the ocean in a remote region of West Antarctica. Glaciologists say it may be on the verge of total collapse, which could swamp huge areas of low-lying coastal land around the world within a few decades. Now, ambitious plans to save it are set to become an early test of whether the world is prepared to enact massive geo-engineering efforts to ward off the worst effects of climate change.
Recent monitoring by uncrewed submarines and satellites, along with ice-sheet modeling, suggest that the Thwaites Glacier and its adjacent smaller twin, the Pine Island Glacier, may already be in a death spiral — eaten up by the intensifying speed and warmth of the powerful Antarctic Circumpolar Current. If they are past a point of no return, say researchers involved in the studies, then only massive human intervention can save them.
Nothing is certain. A new modeling study published last week said the risk of unstoppable retreat of the g... Read more
