Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Inching Towards a Fatal End, Could Raise Sea Levels More than 2 Feet

According to an article published by the New York Post, the melting of ‘Doomsday glacier’ in Antarctica could lead to a rise of more than 2 feet in global sea levels when its ice shelf breaks – which could happen as soon as three years from now. It could also lead to even more drastic sea-level raise –  up to 10 feet, if it draws the surrounding glaciers with it. 

The latest research by the scientists at American Geophysical Union suggests that, the Thwaites Glacier, also dubbed as the ‘doomsday glacier’, in Antarctica, because its collapse could trigger a surrounding glacial cascade, that could come far sooner than expected. The Glacier – roughly the size of Florida at a massive 74, 000 square miles – extends to a depth of about 2600 to 3900 feet at its grounding line, where it transitions from land-attached ice mass to the floating ice shelf.

The Eastern shelf, which is about the width of 25 miles, is rapidly moving forward at about 2,000 feet per year. The coming change will reflect the following ice jump in speed to about 1.2 miles per year.  Scientists warn that the chain reaction post the collapse of the glacier, could threaten coastal residents around the world – who are unprepared for the sudden raise in sea levels.    

Since the 1880s, climate change and rising global temperatures have resulted in 8 to 9 inches of sea level rise. However, the rate of rise has seen a sharp spike in recent decades. As per NASA, climate change will cause rise in sea-levels by 2 to 6 feet, largely due to the ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica.