Why scientists are so worried about this glacier

It's at the heart of Antarctica and on the verge of collapse.

Man-made climate change is warming the planet's atmosphere and oceans, and the effects are being felt the most at the poles. In Antarctica, home to the largest chunk of ice on earth, ice shelves and glaciers are beginning to collapse, and one in particular could spell disaster. The Thwaites Glacier, in West Antarctica, has retreated more than 14 kilometers in the last two decades as warm ocean water undermines it. The glacier is situated on a downward slope that falls deep into the center of Antarctica. It's why scientists are racing to find out how close it is to total collapse - and what that would mean for future sea levels.

Further Reading:

The Doomsday Glacier, Rolling Stone Magazine:

The Race to Understand Antarctica's Most Terrifying Glacier, Wired:

Into the Thaw, PRI

International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration:

Dustin Schroeder, Stanford University:

Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Penn State University

[danimillie]

Everyone’s talking about how “they didn’t think 2020 could get any worse” as if this isn’t a problem that’s been going on for years.

[FinancialShinanigan]

Sadly, politicians are only focused on their relection & short-term goals.

[sciuresci]

Majority of people live near the coasts and our economy depends on marine transportation. A 3m rise in sea level would render most of our coastal infrastructure useless. Which means even if you live on himalayas you'll be affected by it.

[ibeetellingya]

And most of humanity responded "Yeah, whatever."

[rightproperlad]

"Thwaites could be the most dangerous glacier in the world."

That's why people are working really hard to destroy it.

[SpiceNuggetz]

The glacier is called Thwaites, but that doesn't mean we should wait until it completely melts off.

[Jebiwibiwabo]

I live in Miami and for my entire life we've been drilled on climate change and how it would effect the world and us, I'd lose my home and everything I've ever loved about my city, along with millions of other people who would also lose their homes from the same problem, I'm just becoming an adult and honestly have no idea how to really make a difference beyond reducing my own emissions, feels so helpless..

[OIR]

The biggest problem about sea level rise is nobody knows when it’s actually going to happen as “scientists” have been claiming it’s gonna happen for decades but all the same beaches and coastlines are still here and unchanged.

[gooby]

Remember when everyone was inside for like 2 weeks and how much air pollution went down? Remember the people of India could see Himalayan mountains for the first time in like 25 years? What happened to that?
I would like a habitable world for my grand children and yours.

[Dopamine]

“rising sea levels means losing land”


UK: *Cries*

[timetravelingtraveler]

Most of Spain's echonomy (As well as many other countries') depends mostly on tourism. A 3m sea reservado would mean many economies would be bust

[carlfowler]

It isn't a matter of if it breaks free it's a matter of when. It will break free. The oceans are warmer and they are still rising.

[eronkarlvictorino]

Can we all just appreciate that 3d glacier diagram?

[ordaineddoodle]

Could make it some kind of global PSA: “We can no longer Thwaite.”

[scottfitzpatrick]

It makes me sad that this realization has been around since the middle of the 20th century. There is a critical mass of people on the planet that are either incapable of understanding, unwilling to understand, or understand but don't care. I am afraid the solution to climate change is humanity's extinction. Was nice knowing everyone.

[noahdegraaf]

A masterpiece to tell something about an unkown factor.

[roydaboii]

Countries: let’s solve climate change!


Also countries: after you


Btw I am just starting out with my channel and I would appreciate it if you checked it out

[RephaelHo]

The harsh reality is that for any significant change to occur, it depends on the combined efforts of the developed countries and major companies which is much easier said than done.

[fidgetandtoys]

I still can’t help but think about the selfish people in this world who litter and don’t even take the advice to help stop climate change. If ur one of them, plz start making a change because the more energy efficient we are, the longer our civilization is going to live. ***I didn’t mean to sound rude sorry lol***

[cocacleocola]

While we are drinking our precious coffee this glaciers are slowly killing us