Experts are warning that the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica could substantially retreat in the coming years, leading to a rise in sea levels by several feet, according to a new study.
Published Monday in the Nature Geoscience scientific journal, researchers reported that over the last 200 years, the so-called "doomsday glacier" had its base dislodged from the seabed and retreated at a rapid rate of 1.3 miles per year.
The disintegration, which could have occurred as recently as the 20th century, was twice the rate scientists have observed in the last decade. That means Thwaites can rapidly retreat again soon.
"Thwaites is really holding on today by its fingernails, and we should expect to see big changes over small timescales in the future — even from one year to the next — once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed," stated Robert Larter of the British Antarctic Survey, a contributor to the study.
Scientists said that satellite data from 2001 indicated the glacier's grounding line was receding by around 0.6 miles per year, with warm water flowing across Thwaites' base found 19 years later, CNN noted at the time.
Last year, a different study indicated that the glacier's ice shelf could shatter within five years, sending it to float freely upon the ocean.
"From the satellite data, we're seeing these big fractures spreading across the ice shelf surface, essentially weakening the fabric of the ice; kind of a bit like a windscreen crack," BAS oceanographer Peter Davis told the network.
"It's slowly spreading across the ice shelf, and eventually, it's going to fracture into lots of different pieces," he added.
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