What scientists are projecting will happen to the Thwaites Glacier in the next three to five years should be front page news everywhere today.
Short thread.
Short thread.
The Thwaites Glacier (roughly the size of Britain) is mostly held in place by a massive shelf of ice that slows its flow in to the sea.
That ice shelf is like a chair jammed under a door handle. But now it is beginning to slip allowing the door to open.
Warmer waters are effectively melting the ice from underneath as this @nytimes graphic illustrates.
Warmer waters are effectively melting the ice from underneath as this @nytimes graphic illustrates.
The shelf is getting thinner and losing its anchor on the sea bed. New analysis shows it is fracturing like a window and will in time shatter in to smaller icebergs.
This won’t cause disastrous sea level rise. The shelf displaces roughly the same amount of sea solid or liquid.
This won’t cause disastrous sea level rise. The shelf displaces roughly the same amount of sea solid or liquid.
It is what it is holding behind the door that matters. If the entire Thwaites glacier slid in to the ocean it would cause 65cm sea level rise.
But if that happens the entire Western Antarctic shelf could also destabilise. The projected rise in that scenario is incomprehensible.
But if that happens the entire Western Antarctic shelf could also destabilise. The projected rise in that scenario is incomprehensible.
The authors of this report include a very readable plain English summary for the non glaciologists. It demands your attention. agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meeti…
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