The Thwaites Glacier, also known as the “Doomsday Glacier,” is melting at a much faster rate than previous research has shown, according to a new study.
The Thwaites Glacier, commonly referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier,” is melting at a quicker rate than previous research suggested. One study published this past summer found that warming tidal currents are accelerating the melting of the glacier. Another study found that Thwaites might be less vulnerable to instability and collapse sooner.
Scientists and engineers are now formulating ideas on how to potentially alter the environment through geoengineering to ideally slow how quickly the glacier is melting.
Jenna Travers of Columbia University wrote for Phys.org that “the Thwaites Glacier is one of a line of glaciers sitting along the marine-facing rim of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS)—a massive bowl of ice nearly three times the size of Texas sitting in a basin below sea level in Western Antarctica. The only bulwarks that prevent the ocean from filling the basin and melting or dislodging the ice are the glaciers.”
The glacier is larger than the entire state of Florida, and has been nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier” because if it breaches into warmer ocean water it will melt the WAIS and raise the sea level by almost 11 feet.
“The Thwaites is retreating rapidly due to climate change, and already accounts for 4% of sea level rise on Earth, losing 50 billion tons of ice each year. Due to the catastrophic sea level rise that would occur, the breaching of the Thwaites and subsequent dislodgement of the WAIS are what’s known as a tipping point in climate science.”
The warming of the world’s oceans specifically has, and will continue to, lead to irreversible changes within the overall climate system. The rising of sea levels that would occur with the melting of the Thwaites Glacier could endanger millions of people and accelerate the warming of other ice.
“Understanding the melt rate is critical for predicting sea level rise” according to Christine Dow.
Dow is an associate professor of glaciology at the University of Waterloo and a co-author of the study. He said in an interview with Scientific American, “We were hoping it would take a hundred, 500 years to lose that ice. A big concern right now is if it happens much faster than that.”
Some scientists are debating whether glacial geoengineering would work to help slow the melting of the Doomsday Glacier. Glacier Geoengineering is the process of using technology and infrastructure to slow down, or fully stop, glacier retreat and melting.
John Moore, a professor with the Arctic Center at the University of Lapland and co-author of the report, explained “it will take 15 to 30 years for us to understand enough to recommend or rule out any [glacier geoengineering] interventions.”
“Glacial geoengineering interventions like these could be extremely useful if implemented correctly,” said Gernot Wagner, a climate economist in the Columbia Climate School.
“For some polar tipping points like Arctic sea ice and the WAIS, glacial geoengineering seems to be the only way for us to more or less guarantee that we can address these tipping points.”
“However, many of these ideas have faced opposition from glaciologists and climate scientists who claim that they would be difficult or impossible to achieve and draw focus away from the more necessary conversation of reducing carbon emissions. By relying too much on strategies like geoengineering, these scientists argue we may fail to act to curb emissions,” Travers wrote.
Wagner said “the idea of installing curtains seems crazy. Geoengineering options like these curtains could detract from the need to cut emissions.” On the flipside, he said, “you can use it as a push to say, ‘wait, if serious people are talking about [using curtains] as a solution, maybe we should be taking it more seriously and cutting emissions much more.'”
“When we talk about glacial geoengineering, we need to tell the truth, which is that it’s not a solution to climate change—at best, it’s a painkiller. It allows us to get out of bed and do what is necessary to address the underlying illness while taking the edge off the worst of the pain,” Wagner stated.
“[But] geoengineering doesn’t solve anything, so we need to use the time it gives us to address emissions.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
