Get the latest tech news
Seawater is rushing under Thwaites Glacier, potentially dire impact on sea level
Ocean water is pushing miles beneath Antarctica’s “Doomsday Glacier” on a daily basis making it more vulnerable to melting than previously thought, according to new research, which used radar data from space to perform an X-ray of the crucial glacier.
As the salty, relatively warm ocean water meets the ice, it’s causing “vigorous melting” underneath the glacier and couldmean global sea level rise projections are beingunderestimated, according to the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But because it also acts as a natural dam to the surrounding ice in West Antarctica, scientists have estimated its complete collapse could ultimately lead to around 10 feet of sea level rise — a catastrophe for the world’s coastal communities. A team of glaciologists — led by scientists from the University of California, Irvine — used high resolution satellite radar data, collected between March and June last year, to create an X-ray of the glacier.
Or read this on Hacker News
