Senegal-sized Antarctic glacier melting faster than thought: Why it matters

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is losing mass faster than scientists expected, as warm seawater pushes underneath the ice and melts its core. A study by glaciologists at the University of California and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, published in Nature Communications, estimates it could raise sea levels by 30mm over the next century, even if global warming does not accelerate. Nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier”, Thwaites spans about 192,000 square kilometres and has been retreating for decades.