It is a mass of frozen water bigger than Florida. It is vanishing.
The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, discovered in 2018, has sent shivers down the spines of scientists and environmentalists, because its retreat can bring in its wake unforeseen and catastrophic consequences. For this reason, the glacier has earned the sobriquet, “The Doomsday Glacier”.
Ever since its discovery, scientists have known that it is retreating, thanks to global warming — a concern that has given birth to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Now scientists have found that its retreat is accelerating. Unless something is done to stop or at least delay its demise, the world is in for a big trouble. Scientists are desperate to do something, but they don’t know what to do.
The monstrously large Thwaites, about 120 km across and two km high, is the widest glacier on Earth. Part of it sits on a bedrock and the other part floats over the sea, partly submerged. Tidal action is lifting the sea part of the glacier, letting warmer sea water sneak between the glacier’s underside and the bedrock.
If it melts away entirely, which could happen in the next century, its waters will raise sea levels by more than three feet. That is a goodbye to several islands and large chunks of Bangladesh. But don’t think ‘next century’ means it is someone else’s problem. Full glacier melt is the endgame — there is devil’s work all along the way, starting from now.
