Few places in Antarctica are harder to reach than Thwaites Glacier. Yet for the small community of people who study ice, it has long been the subject of dark speculation. Why? Because this Florida-sized hunk of frozen water is collapsing into the sea. 1/ wired.trib.al/ooBF6Ac
Scientists are scrambling to answer two questions: When will the Thwaites Glacier take the plunge into the ocean, and can our coastal cities survive? 2/ wired.trib.al/ooBF6Ac
📸 Jeremy Harbeck/NASA
📸 Jeremy Harbeck/NASA
The Thwaites Glacier’s front end measures ~100 miles across and its glacial basin runs as deep as 4,000 feet. If it were to “go bad” and collapse into the ocean, it might be the kind of event that changes the course of civilization 2/ wired.trib.al/ooBF6Ac
For the time being, Thwaites Glacier is held in place by a bump in the seafloor. Once it pulls off this so-called grounding line, it’ll begin to collapse more quickly. “It’s kind of hanging on by its fingernails,” says one scientist. 3/ wired.trib.al/ooBF6Ac
A floating ice shelf defends Thwaites from the assaults of ocean currents. As it disintegrates, more and more of the glacier becomes vulnerable, and more icebergs end up in the sea. Eventually, it could be goodbye, Miami; goodbye, Boston. 4/ wired.trib.al/ooBF6Ac
Glaciologists have identified a second bump about 45 miles behind the current one called the Ghost Ridge. There’s hope it could slow Thwaites’ decline, but it’s unclear if that will have any long-term impact without a radical change in human behavior. 5/ wired.trib.al/ooBF6Ac
The problem in imagining Thwaites’ ultimate collapse lies in trying to imagine a disaster that hasn't occurred in recorded human history. The damage would be incalculable. Shanghai, Lagos, Mumbai, Jakarta—all would flood. 6/ wired.trib.al/ooBF6Ac
Saving Thwaites Glacier won’t save the world. At the rate temperatures on Earth are rising, soon some other glacier will be hanging by its fingernails. 7/ wired.trib.al/ooBF6Ac
