THIS IS THE SECOND OF TWO ARTICLES addressing the Thwaites glacier in West Antarctica. It is based on the article “Really, Really Bad: Scientists Raise Alarm Over Warm Ocean Water Beneath Doomsday Glacier in Antarctica” by Julia Conley for the Common Dreams website. The sub-headline for this piece reads, “Warm waters in this part of the world, as remote as they may seem, should serve as a warning to all of us about the potential dire changes to the planet brought about by climate change.” The article continues:
“Researchers at New York University and the British Antarctic Survey drilled through nearly 2,000 feet of ice in the Thwaites Glacier to measure temperatures at the 75-mile wide ice sheet’s grounding line, where the ice meets the ocean. The water just beneath the ice was found to be 32º Fahrenheit—more than 2º above freezing temperature in the Antarctic region.
Scientists refer to Thwaites as the ‘doomsday glacier’ due to the dire implications its rapid melting could have for the planet. The melting of the glacier could eventually mean the U.S. would lose 28,800 square miles of coastal land, pushing 12.3 million people currently living in those areas out of their homes.
The Thwaites Glacier has lost 600 billion tons of ice over the past several decades, accelerating to as many as 50 billion tons per year in recent years. According to NYU scientist David Holland, ‘Warm waters in this part of the world, as remote as they may seem, should serve as a warning to all of us about the potential dire changes to the planet brought about by climate change.’ ”
To read the original article above in its entirety, click HERE.
To read the other article on the Thwaites Glacier, click HERE.
FEATURED IMAGE: The photo at the top of this page is of the Thwaites Glacier, which is currently responsible for about 1% of global sea-level rise. (Photo: Stuart Rankin/Flickr) “Snow is white because it is chock full of air bubbles. Snow reflects back the full spectrum of white light. When glacial ice first freezes, it is filled with air bubbles. As that ice gets buried and squashed underneath younger ice on top, the older ice starts to take on a blue tinge. Antarctica is the only place on Earth with these incredible stretches of blue ice.” (Live Science)
