Thwaites Glacier, a sheet of ice about the size of Florida, lies in West Antarctica. If Thwaites were to collapse, it could lead to an increase in sea levels of around 25 inches (64 centimeters) -- and the researchers are trying to find out how soon this is likely to happen. While the timescales for a collapse of the ice sheet are in question, such a collapse … Scientists fear the collapse of Thwaites Glacier could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. When we think of Antarctic ice, it's tempting to think of huge bergs floating through the sea. The Thwaites Glacier part of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet is undergoing accelerated melt along with a number of other glaciers that could see sea levels rise by between 10 and 13 feet. One piece of research is looking at the grounding line - the region - where the glacier rests on the ocean bed and where it floats over water. This winterâs expedition aboard the Palmer marked the first field season of a five-year, international research collaboration to discover just how much, and how fast, Thwaites Glacier might add to rising seas. The first image, acquired with the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) on Landsat 7, shows the glacier’s floating ice tongue on December 2, 2001 shortly before it calved Iceberg B-22. Thwaites Glacier is in West Antarctica and is sometimes called the Doomsday Glacier due to its potential impact on global sea levels. If Thwaites collapses, much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could follow it into the ocean. but it is $250 cheaper and still get most of the other cutting-edge features found on the more expensive model. Think of Thwaites a bit like a keystone in an arch, holding everything together. In the UK, a two metre (6.5 ft) rise by 2040 would see large parts of Kent almost completely submerged, according to the results of a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in November 2016. 1 month ago. Is Thwaites Glacier doomed? Credit: Drone footage courtesy Aleksandra Mazur/ University of Gothenburg. Close. Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is 74,000 square miles, the size of Great Britain, and is thought to be particularly susceptible to climate change. Apple's new iPhone XS and XS Max go on sale on Friday - and the biggest handset Apple has ever made is also its best (and possibly unsurprisingly, its most expensive). Scientists say Thwaites and the other glaciers are not likely to collapse in the next century; they are simply too big to fail right now. If Thwaites retreats far enough inland and reaches a certain thickness, physics dictates it will start collapsing under its own weight. Now, about a third of Boston is at risk of coastal flooding if sea levels rise between 2 and 8 feet higher than they are today, Wormser said. The Thwaites Glacier is...a glacier. This image pair demonstrates the changes that have occurred since the start of this century. Scientists fear the collapse of Thwaites Glacier could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. 266. Already, Thwaites accounts for about four per cent of global sea-level rise as warming waters cause it to melt from the underside. Pacific Island nations like Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives would be wiped off the map if the West Antarctic ice sheet were to collapse entirely. u/nrtlbwlitw. A 'doomsday' Antarctic glacier that could collapse within decades and cause a 10ft (3 metre) rise in sea levels will be studied by an 'unprecedented' joint US-UK mission. In Boston, much of the current downtown didnât exist prior to the arrival of European settlers. She said by then we should know much more about the risks the ice shelf poses. The latest findings from a study into the wider ice shelf the glacier sits on come two years into the five year project. Scientists think we could see a total collapse of the glacier within the next century, and are scrambling to better understand how to save it. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica could significantly affect global sea levels. Thwaites, about the size of Florida, is currently responsible for about 4 percent of global sea level rise, making it one of the most dangerous glaciers in the world, according to scientists. Cities and towns around the Humber estuary, such as Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby would also experience intense flooding. DeConto said they are still working to identify the exact tipping point that would trigger this dramatic fracturing of the West Antarctic ice sheet, but work he presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting this past winter suggests itâs somewhere between 2-3 degrees Celsius of warming. 266. A run-away collapse of the glacier would lead to a significant increase in sea levels of around 65cm (25 inches) and scientists want to find out how quickly this could happen. Scientists fear its collapse could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. In 2002, a team of … In the next few days, scientists will lower the torpedo-shaped robot, dubbed Icefin, into a nearly 2,000-foot-long (600 meters) borehole in the ice of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. This is the last in a series, Into the Thaw: Decoding Thwaites Glacier. Climate. Sea level rises threaten cities from Shanghai to London, to low-lying swathes of Florida or Bangladesh, and to entire nations such as the Maldives. It already drains an area roughly the size of Britain or the US state of Florida, accounting for around four per cent of global sea-level rise —an amount that has doubled since the mid-1990s. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier would cause an increase of global sea level of between one and two metres (three and six feet), with the potential for more than twice that from the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Scientists fear the collapse of Thwaites Glacier could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. The Thwaites glacier is the size of Florida and is located in the Amundsen Sea. In a major new collaboration, the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the U.S. National Science Foundation plan to deploy more than 100 scientists from dozens of institutions to study the possibility that West Antarctica’s huge Thwaites Glacier could collapse within decades or centuries. If Thwaites melted, estimates suggest sea levels globally would rise around 0.5 metres on average. Glaciers contribute to sea-level rise when more ice is lost to the ocean that is replaced by snow. If it collapses it could take other parts of the ice shelf with it and lead to the single largest driver of sea-level rise this century, lead researcher Erin Pettit told Nature. The Thwaites glacier covers an area around half the size of the UK Antarctica's ice – what's going on? Climate. The Thwaites glacier covers an area around half the size of the UK Antarctica's ice – what's going on? âYou'd expect it might lead to even further acceleration of flow of the glacier,â Larter said of the blowout. Glaciologist Erin Pettit and her team worked directly on the ice shelf conducting seismic tests to study the sea floor and deploy sensor 980ft into the ice. A team of scientists from Oregon State University made the most of ice free waters in West Antarctica to look under the glacier - which is about the size of Great Britain. âWeâd like to plan for 2100. âWhen we have better data, better science, then we can make more informed decisions.â. Places such as Annapolis, Maryland and Washington, DC can expect more than 150 tidal floods a year, and several locations in New Jersey could see 80 tidal floods or more. It's eye-wateringly expensive at $2,999, but Naim's Uniti Atom is a revelation, an integrated amplifier than makes it easy to stream music at a quality you've probably never heard before. Antarctica Thwaites glacier collapse could lead to 2ft sea level riseA team of scientists from Oregon State University made the most of ice free waters in West Antarctica to look under the glacier - which is about the size of Great Britain. This single glacier is responsible for 4% of global sea level rise. Thwaites is like the cork in the wine bottle for the rest of the West Antarctica ice sheet. Scientists fear an unstoppable flow of ice from the Thwaites Glacier into the sea Credit: SWNS:South West News Service If Thwaites disappears, what happens? âThere's still a debate over what [this collapse] would look like,â Graham said. The results showed that most of these communities will experience a steep increase in the number and severity of tidal flooding events over the coming decades. âThe entire embayment where weâd been working for several days was littered with icebergs.â. And ice cliff modeling suggests that if that process starts, there might not be anything to stop it. Each scenario includes only a small amount of melting from Antarctica. Next year the little robot submarine will create a large map of the area all the way to where the main body of the glacier sits on bedrock. It is up to 4,000 meters thick and is considered a key in making projections of global sea level rise. In the US, just half that amount of sea level rise could prompt a coastal exodus that would rival the great migration. 1 month ago. âSuddenly, it was making sense with what we were seeing out of the windows.â. Israeli beauty-tech firm Pollogen has launched its Geneo Personal device, which stimulates oxygen from beneath the skin's surface to give you a clearer, fresher face within minutes. It's just the science right now is so uncertain that it's planning for a variance of 4 feet of sea level rise,â Pegan said. Scientists have found warm water underneath the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, which could speed up the melting of the Florida-sized block of ice. Tagged: Scientists recently discovered that warm undercurrents could be eating away its underbelly. The five genes that make you more likely to die from coronavirus or be admitted to intensive care. A 2014 study looked by the union of concerned scientists looked at 52 sea level indicators in communities across the US. The icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, chartered by the US National Science Foundation, is shown. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects between roughly 1 1/2 to 3 feet of sea level rise under a âbusiness as usualâ carbon emissions scenario, or 1 to 2 feet if we start cutting carbon immediately and dramatically. Global sea levels could rise as much as 10ft (3 metres) if the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica collapses. In the near term, these changes will mean more frequent, coastal flooding in low-lying areas, including some of Bostonâs most historic neighborhoods. Produced by Ian Coss, Steven Davy, David Evans, Alex Newman, Anna Pratt and Peter Thomson. Thwaites Glacier), sometimes referred to as the Doomsday Glacier, is an unusually broad and vast Antarctic glacier flowing into the Pine Island Bay, part of the Amundsen Sea, east of Mount Murphy, on the Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land Its surface speeds exceed 2 kilometres per year (1.2 miles per year) near its grounding line. The rate of Thwaites’s disintegration has alarmed scientists for good reason. Their 2016 research, which predicts how marine ice cliffs will react to atmospheric warming under a variety of future greenhouse gas scenarios, found that in a future where we quickly and radically cut greenhouse gas emissions, the West Antarctic ice sheet would be relatively stable for centuries. Livable Planet. Using radar to study the inside of the shelf they found it was full of channels, ridges and cliffs created by warm currents. None of the protections necessary to preserve coastal communities will come cheap. If you were to dive into the water beneath the protruding, … The ice shelf is stabilized by contact with the seafloor. The questions swirling around the future of the West Antarctic ice sheet add to the considerable uncertainty policymakers and planners face when trying to prepare for sea level rise. The front face of Thwaites glacier rises an estimated 60 to 75 feet above water in the areas where it is most intact. This big blowout confirmed that there's very little actual ice shelf left in the western part of Thwaites Glacier. That's worrying news for coastal cities. Roughly 90% of an ice sheet typically sits below the water line. They will also use a combination of gliders, drilling and other sensors to gather as much data as they can about the seafloor and ocean currents. This means that cities and countries using IPCC data to build their own localized sea level rise projections are likewise only planning for a small amount of loss from West Antarctica, which might prove to be an underestimation. “You have to think in terms of maybe 3 feet, but maybe 10 or 15,” Alley said. An earlier robotic submarine was able to confirm the presence of warm water under the ice, which Pettit and her team expanded on to find there were three sources of the warm water all 'attacking' the glacier from different sides. Teams of scientists are drilling into a huge glacier – described as the “doomsday glacier” – to find out if it’s about to collapse. âThey filled in a lot of the [Boston] Harbor with horses and shovels,â Wormser said, âand they never contemplated sea level rise.â. Scientists think the glacier could undergo even more dramatic changes in the near future. In some places Thwaites Glacier has been losing tens of feet, or several meters, of elevation per year. Instead, much of the ice there is actually what scientists call a âmélange,â a slushy mix of icebergs and other floating bits of ice formed by fracturing at an ice front. As the glacier continues to melt, and its grounding line shifts farther inland, scientists suspect Thwaites will eventually reach a point of no return -- with its collapse inevitable. AI seems to permeate every part of its software, from the ability to answer calls for you to being able to almost perfectly predict your morning commute. Thwaites Glacier is melting fast, and scientists fear its collapse could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. “You have to think in terms of maybe 3 feet, but maybe 10 or 15,” Alley said. As part of the wider project a number of robotic vehicles have been sent under the ice to gather data including one called Rán - named after the Norse god of the sea. But it's not the worst bit. A massive one that poses such risk it's been branded the 'Doomsday Glacier". Satellite images soon showed where these icebergs were coming from. The massive blowout of icebergs wonât itself change sea levels, as the ice that fractured off deep into the ice shelf had already been floating. In 2001, a study of Thwaites Glacier using satellite radar interferometry data from the Earth Remote Sensing Satellite 1 and 2 revealed that the grounding line of Thwaites Glacier was retreating at 1 kilometer per year and that the glacier was significantly out of mass balance, hence confirming presumptions of collapse by Terence Hughes, University of Maine, in 1973. Single glacier is receding by half a mile per year help scientists determine whether Thwaites 's. 'S Achilles heel a flat sheet of ice crumbling could mean the entire glacier gives way 4,000 metres 13,100. In front of Thwaites had fractured into mile-long icebergs that were now blown! 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when do scientists think the thwaites glacier could collapse?
Thwaites Glacier, a sheet of ice about the size of Florida, lies in West Antarctica. If Thwaites were to collapse, it could lead to an increase in sea levels of around 25 inches (64 centimeters) -- and the researchers are trying to find out how soon this is likely to happen. While the timescales for a collapse of the ice sheet are in question, such a collapse … Scientists fear the collapse of Thwaites Glacier could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. When we think of Antarctic ice, it's tempting to think of huge bergs floating through the sea. The Thwaites Glacier part of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet is undergoing accelerated melt along with a number of other glaciers that could see sea levels rise by between 10 and 13 feet. One piece of research is looking at the grounding line - the region - where the glacier rests on the ocean bed and where it floats over water. This winterâs expedition aboard the Palmer marked the first field season of a five-year, international research collaboration to discover just how much, and how fast, Thwaites Glacier might add to rising seas. The first image, acquired with the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) on Landsat 7, shows the glacier’s floating ice tongue on December 2, 2001 shortly before it calved Iceberg B-22. Thwaites Glacier is in West Antarctica and is sometimes called the Doomsday Glacier due to its potential impact on global sea levels. If Thwaites collapses, much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could follow it into the ocean. but it is $250 cheaper and still get most of the other cutting-edge features found on the more expensive model. Think of Thwaites a bit like a keystone in an arch, holding everything together. In the UK, a two metre (6.5 ft) rise by 2040 would see large parts of Kent almost completely submerged, according to the results of a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in November 2016. 1 month ago. Is Thwaites Glacier doomed? Credit: Drone footage courtesy Aleksandra Mazur/ University of Gothenburg. Close. Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is 74,000 square miles, the size of Great Britain, and is thought to be particularly susceptible to climate change. Apple's new iPhone XS and XS Max go on sale on Friday - and the biggest handset Apple has ever made is also its best (and possibly unsurprisingly, its most expensive). Scientists say Thwaites and the other glaciers are not likely to collapse in the next century; they are simply too big to fail right now. If Thwaites retreats far enough inland and reaches a certain thickness, physics dictates it will start collapsing under its own weight. Now, about a third of Boston is at risk of coastal flooding if sea levels rise between 2 and 8 feet higher than they are today, Wormser said. The Thwaites Glacier is...a glacier. This image pair demonstrates the changes that have occurred since the start of this century. Scientists fear the collapse of Thwaites Glacier could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. 266. Already, Thwaites accounts for about four per cent of global sea-level rise as warming waters cause it to melt from the underside. Pacific Island nations like Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives would be wiped off the map if the West Antarctic ice sheet were to collapse entirely. u/nrtlbwlitw. A 'doomsday' Antarctic glacier that could collapse within decades and cause a 10ft (3 metre) rise in sea levels will be studied by an 'unprecedented' joint US-UK mission. In Boston, much of the current downtown didnât exist prior to the arrival of European settlers. She said by then we should know much more about the risks the ice shelf poses. The latest findings from a study into the wider ice shelf the glacier sits on come two years into the five year project. Scientists think we could see a total collapse of the glacier within the next century, and are scrambling to better understand how to save it. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica could significantly affect global sea levels. Thwaites, about the size of Florida, is currently responsible for about 4 percent of global sea level rise, making it one of the most dangerous glaciers in the world, according to scientists. Cities and towns around the Humber estuary, such as Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby would also experience intense flooding. DeConto said they are still working to identify the exact tipping point that would trigger this dramatic fracturing of the West Antarctic ice sheet, but work he presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting this past winter suggests itâs somewhere between 2-3 degrees Celsius of warming. 266. A run-away collapse of the glacier would lead to a significant increase in sea levels of around 65cm (25 inches) and scientists want to find out how quickly this could happen. Scientists fear its collapse could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. In 2002, a team of … In the next few days, scientists will lower the torpedo-shaped robot, dubbed Icefin, into a nearly 2,000-foot-long (600 meters) borehole in the ice of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica. This is the last in a series, Into the Thaw: Decoding Thwaites Glacier. Climate. Sea level rises threaten cities from Shanghai to London, to low-lying swathes of Florida or Bangladesh, and to entire nations such as the Maldives. It already drains an area roughly the size of Britain or the US state of Florida, accounting for around four per cent of global sea-level rise —an amount that has doubled since the mid-1990s. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier would cause an increase of global sea level of between one and two metres (three and six feet), with the potential for more than twice that from the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Scientists fear the collapse of Thwaites Glacier could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. The Thwaites glacier is the size of Florida and is located in the Amundsen Sea. In a major new collaboration, the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the U.S. National Science Foundation plan to deploy more than 100 scientists from dozens of institutions to study the possibility that West Antarctica’s huge Thwaites Glacier could collapse within decades or centuries. If Thwaites melted, estimates suggest sea levels globally would rise around 0.5 metres on average. Glaciers contribute to sea-level rise when more ice is lost to the ocean that is replaced by snow. If it collapses it could take other parts of the ice shelf with it and lead to the single largest driver of sea-level rise this century, lead researcher Erin Pettit told Nature. The Thwaites glacier covers an area around half the size of the UK Antarctica's ice – what's going on? Climate. The Thwaites glacier covers an area around half the size of the UK Antarctica's ice – what's going on? âYou'd expect it might lead to even further acceleration of flow of the glacier,â Larter said of the blowout. Glaciologist Erin Pettit and her team worked directly on the ice shelf conducting seismic tests to study the sea floor and deploy sensor 980ft into the ice. A team of scientists from Oregon State University made the most of ice free waters in West Antarctica to look under the glacier - which is about the size of Great Britain. âWeâd like to plan for 2100. âWhen we have better data, better science, then we can make more informed decisions.â. Places such as Annapolis, Maryland and Washington, DC can expect more than 150 tidal floods a year, and several locations in New Jersey could see 80 tidal floods or more. It's eye-wateringly expensive at $2,999, but Naim's Uniti Atom is a revelation, an integrated amplifier than makes it easy to stream music at a quality you've probably never heard before. Antarctica Thwaites glacier collapse could lead to 2ft sea level riseA team of scientists from Oregon State University made the most of ice free waters in West Antarctica to look under the glacier - which is about the size of Great Britain. This single glacier is responsible for 4% of global sea level rise. Thwaites is like the cork in the wine bottle for the rest of the West Antarctica ice sheet. Scientists fear an unstoppable flow of ice from the Thwaites Glacier into the sea Credit: SWNS:South West News Service If Thwaites disappears, what happens? âThere's still a debate over what [this collapse] would look like,â Graham said. The results showed that most of these communities will experience a steep increase in the number and severity of tidal flooding events over the coming decades. âThe entire embayment where weâd been working for several days was littered with icebergs.â. And ice cliff modeling suggests that if that process starts, there might not be anything to stop it. Each scenario includes only a small amount of melting from Antarctica. Next year the little robot submarine will create a large map of the area all the way to where the main body of the glacier sits on bedrock. It is up to 4,000 meters thick and is considered a key in making projections of global sea level rise. In the US, just half that amount of sea level rise could prompt a coastal exodus that would rival the great migration. 1 month ago. âSuddenly, it was making sense with what we were seeing out of the windows.â. Israeli beauty-tech firm Pollogen has launched its Geneo Personal device, which stimulates oxygen from beneath the skin's surface to give you a clearer, fresher face within minutes. It's just the science right now is so uncertain that it's planning for a variance of 4 feet of sea level rise,â Pegan said. Scientists have found warm water underneath the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, which could speed up the melting of the Florida-sized block of ice. Tagged: Scientists recently discovered that warm undercurrents could be eating away its underbelly. The five genes that make you more likely to die from coronavirus or be admitted to intensive care. A 2014 study looked by the union of concerned scientists looked at 52 sea level indicators in communities across the US. The icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, chartered by the US National Science Foundation, is shown. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects between roughly 1 1/2 to 3 feet of sea level rise under a âbusiness as usualâ carbon emissions scenario, or 1 to 2 feet if we start cutting carbon immediately and dramatically. Global sea levels could rise as much as 10ft (3 metres) if the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica collapses. In the near term, these changes will mean more frequent, coastal flooding in low-lying areas, including some of Bostonâs most historic neighborhoods. Produced by Ian Coss, Steven Davy, David Evans, Alex Newman, Anna Pratt and Peter Thomson. Thwaites Glacier), sometimes referred to as the Doomsday Glacier, is an unusually broad and vast Antarctic glacier flowing into the Pine Island Bay, part of the Amundsen Sea, east of Mount Murphy, on the Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land Its surface speeds exceed 2 kilometres per year (1.2 miles per year) near its grounding line. The rate of Thwaites’s disintegration has alarmed scientists for good reason. Their 2016 research, which predicts how marine ice cliffs will react to atmospheric warming under a variety of future greenhouse gas scenarios, found that in a future where we quickly and radically cut greenhouse gas emissions, the West Antarctic ice sheet would be relatively stable for centuries. Livable Planet. Using radar to study the inside of the shelf they found it was full of channels, ridges and cliffs created by warm currents. None of the protections necessary to preserve coastal communities will come cheap. If you were to dive into the water beneath the protruding, … The ice shelf is stabilized by contact with the seafloor. The questions swirling around the future of the West Antarctic ice sheet add to the considerable uncertainty policymakers and planners face when trying to prepare for sea level rise. The front face of Thwaites glacier rises an estimated 60 to 75 feet above water in the areas where it is most intact. This big blowout confirmed that there's very little actual ice shelf left in the western part of Thwaites Glacier. That's worrying news for coastal cities. Roughly 90% of an ice sheet typically sits below the water line. They will also use a combination of gliders, drilling and other sensors to gather as much data as they can about the seafloor and ocean currents. This means that cities and countries using IPCC data to build their own localized sea level rise projections are likewise only planning for a small amount of loss from West Antarctica, which might prove to be an underestimation. “You have to think in terms of maybe 3 feet, but maybe 10 or 15,” Alley said. An earlier robotic submarine was able to confirm the presence of warm water under the ice, which Pettit and her team expanded on to find there were three sources of the warm water all 'attacking' the glacier from different sides. Teams of scientists are drilling into a huge glacier – described as the “doomsday glacier” – to find out if it’s about to collapse. âThey filled in a lot of the [Boston] Harbor with horses and shovels,â Wormser said, âand they never contemplated sea level rise.â. Scientists think the glacier could undergo even more dramatic changes in the near future. In some places Thwaites Glacier has been losing tens of feet, or several meters, of elevation per year. Instead, much of the ice there is actually what scientists call a âmélange,â a slushy mix of icebergs and other floating bits of ice formed by fracturing at an ice front. As the glacier continues to melt, and its grounding line shifts farther inland, scientists suspect Thwaites will eventually reach a point of no return -- with its collapse inevitable. AI seems to permeate every part of its software, from the ability to answer calls for you to being able to almost perfectly predict your morning commute. Thwaites Glacier is melting fast, and scientists fear its collapse could one day destabilize surrounding glaciers and eventually trigger up to 11 feet of global sea level rise. “You have to think in terms of maybe 3 feet, but maybe 10 or 15,” Alley said. As part of the wider project a number of robotic vehicles have been sent under the ice to gather data including one called Rán - named after the Norse god of the sea. But it's not the worst bit. A massive one that poses such risk it's been branded the 'Doomsday Glacier". Satellite images soon showed where these icebergs were coming from. The massive blowout of icebergs wonât itself change sea levels, as the ice that fractured off deep into the ice shelf had already been floating. In 2001, a study of Thwaites Glacier using satellite radar interferometry data from the Earth Remote Sensing Satellite 1 and 2 revealed that the grounding line of Thwaites Glacier was retreating at 1 kilometer per year and that the glacier was significantly out of mass balance, hence confirming presumptions of collapse by Terence Hughes, University of Maine, in 1973. Single glacier is receding by half a mile per year help scientists determine whether Thwaites 's. 'S Achilles heel a flat sheet of ice crumbling could mean the entire glacier gives way 4,000 metres 13,100. In front of Thwaites had fractured into mile-long icebergs that were now blown! 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