A ‘doomsday glacier’ the size of Florida is disintegrating faster than thought

Thwaites Glacier, known as the ‘doomsday glacier’ for the risk it poses to global sea levels, is retreating faster than previously thought, study shows

September 6, 2022 at 2:06 p.m. EDT

The U.S. Antarctic Program research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer working along the ice edge of the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf in February 2019. (Courtesy of Alexandra Mazur/University of Gothenburg)

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A large glacier in Antarctica that could raise sea levels several feet is disintegrating faster than last predicted, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The Thwaites Glacier — dubbed the “doomsday glacier” because scientists estimate that without it and its supporting ice shelves, sea levels could rise more than 3 to 10 feet — lies in the western part of the continent. After recently mapping it in high-resolution, a group of international researchers found that the glacial expanse experienced a phase of “rapid retreat” sometime in the past two centuries — over a duration of less than six months.