Change to #ThwaitesGlacier, #Antarctica constitutes the largest uncertainty in #sealevel rise forecasts. The Science Coordination Office of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration recently summarised some key findings in a briefing document - thwaitesglacier.org/findings Put simply, the outlook is grim. It is highly likely that Thwaites Glacier will eventually be lost, which will destabilise adjoining parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, increasing the committed long-term rise in global mean sea level by more than 3 m.

Ravine House, Easton Bavents, near #Southwold, #Suffolk, recently sold according to the estate agent's board at its front. Zoopla indicates the asking price was "offers over £450k". Looks OK doesn't it? There's a catch though.
1/n This is the view of the property from the nearby clifftop, which has been retreating at an average rate of 2 to 3 m/yr over the past 30 years, according to a long-term @EnvAgency study.
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Among several graphs showing unprecedented current climate extremes it is the ones showing the growing anomaly in Antarctic sea ice extent that I find most concerning.
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https://twitter.com/EliotJacobson/status/1674736887322533888

This may seem like a strange thing to focus on since so few people are directly affected by it. Let me explain.
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I'm aware of a lot of change going on in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean environment, but sometimes I see a new paper, read the abstract and think "OMG it's worse than I thought". This is one of those papers.
nature.com/articles/s4158… Collapse of the Antarctic overturning circulation would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the Southern Ocean in absorbing heat and CO₂ from the atmosphere and have worldwide climate impacts.

Any post about declining #seaice extent triggers replies pointing out that as the ice is already floating it doesn’t make any difference to sea level. This is correct of course (well, nearly). So why does sea-ice loss matter? There are several reasons. 1/11

https://twitter.com/rdlarter/status/1627398886686875649

Firstly there is the high “albedo” of the ice. It reflects a lot of incoming solar radiation. Reduced summer sea-ice extent exposes more of the ocean surface, which is darker (lower albedo) and thus absorbs more radiant energy, warming the water. 2/11

I was privileged to be invited to write a commentary on an interesting recent paper about the roughness of ice shelves by Watkins et al. (2021).
Commentary features this schematic diagram of the #ThwaitesGlacier Eastern Ice Shelf by @MarloWordyBird doi.org/10.1029/2021GL…
1/N The paper that was the subject of the commentary is available here -
doi.org/10.1029/2021GL…
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Great to see @GlacierThwaites research covered in national media, but a few points in this @guardian article need correction or further explanation.
1/n theguardian.com/world/2021/dec… Firstly, “great cracks and fissures” have not “opened up both on top of and underneath the Thwaites glacier” itself, but on the floating ice shelf in front of it.
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While @GlacierThwaites fieldwork is postponed for the coming Antarctic summer, how much ongoing ice loss is there from #ThwaitesGlacier and nearby glaciers in the Amundsen Sea, and how big is their contribution to sea-level rise? Thread, 1/23

https://twitter.com/GlacierThwaites/status/1271356171916632064

3 separate recent studies provide measurements for individual glaciers or drainage basins based on satellite remote sensing observations:
Rignot et al. (2019) doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1…
Shepherd et al. (2019) doi.org/10.1029/2019GL…
Smith et al. (2020) doi.org/10.1126/scienc…
2/23

A thread listing some of the sources of info, video clips and animations I included in my talk on The Polar Oceans at the outreach event following on from @BSRG19 earlier this week. Thanks to @FJavierHernnde2 for this photo and for organizing the event. 1/n This figure, as seen in the previous tweet, shows an Antarctic-centred view of the global thermohaline circulation system from a recent article by @meredith_mmm challenger-society.org.uk/oceanchallenge…. It highlights how the Southern Ocean connects the other major oceans. 2/n