Study finds warm seawater melting Thwaites glacier from underneath

The short version

• Al Jazeera reports that a new Nature Communications study finds warm seawater is melting Thwaites glacier from underneath.[Al Jazeera]
• Thwaites covers about 192,000 square kilometres, roughly the size of Senegal, and contributes about four percent of global sea-level rise.[Al Jazeera]
• The study says Thwaites could add about 30 mm to sea levels even without faster global warming.[Al Jazeera]
• A separate British Antarctic Survey study projects ice loss for at least 150 years, while experts say more research is needed.[Al Jazeera]

Key facts

• Thwaites glacier in West Antarctica covers about 192,000 square kilometres, roughly the size of Senegal.[Al Jazeera]
• Research published in Nature Communications by glaciologists from the University of California and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory finds warm seawater is melting Thwaites from below.[Al Jazeera]
• The research says Thwaites could add about 30 mm (1.2 inches) to global sea levels even if global warming does not accelerate as predicted.[Al Jazeera]
• Ice loss from Thwaites currently contributes around four percent of global sea-level rise.[Al Jazeera]
• Studies calculate that Thwaites has lost more than 1,000 billion tonnes of ice since 2000 and loses about 50 billion tonnes per year.[Al Jazeera]
• The study concluded there is a 60 percent chance Thwaites could unpin from the Mouginot Ridge, an underwater bedrock feature that stabilises it, by the end of the century.[Al Jazeera]
• A British Antarctic Survey study published in Geophysical Research Letters projects Thwaites will keep losing ice for at least 150 years, even under extreme ocean cooling.[Al Jazeera]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.

• Senegal-sized Antarctic glacier melting faster than thought: Why it mattersAl Jazeera