The outlook for “Doomsday Glacier” just got gloomier.Scientists are warning the Antarctic Ice Sheet, known formally as the Thwaites Glacier, will deteriorate “further and faster” and that sea level rise triggered by the melting could impact “hundreds of millions” in coastal communities.”Towards the end of this century, or into the next century, it is very probable that we will see a rapid increase in the amount of ice coming off of Antarctica,” said Dr. Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the University of Colorado. “The Thwaites is pretty much doomed.”The findings are the culmination of six years of research conducted by the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, a collective of more than 100 scientists.The “Doomsday Glacier,” roughly the size of the state of Florida, is one of the largest glaciers in the world. Scientists predict that its collapse could contribute to 65 centimeters, or roughly 26 inches in sea levels to rise.The sea level rise could be even higher though if you account for the ice the Thwaites will draw in from the large surrounding glacial basins when it collapses. “That total will be closer to three meters of sea level rise,” Scambos said.According to the researchers, the volume of water flowing into the sea from the Thwaites and its neighboring glaciers has doubled from the 1990s to the 2010s.Approximately 1/3 of the front of the Twaites is currently covered by a thick plate of ice — an ice shelf — floating in the ocean …
