The “Doomsday Glacier” is cracking: the world is on the verge of ecological catastrophe

The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier,” is losing stability and could trigger a rapid rise in sea levels by several meters.

American researchers came to this conclusion by publishing new data in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface.

The study reveals dangerous cracks in the glacier’s shelf. This “ice plug” currently keeps huge masses of ice from flowing into the ocean. If it breaks, global sea levels could rise by more than three meters, posing a real threat to coastal cities around the world.

“We’ve seen ice shelves collapse, but never once have they recovered,” said geophysicist Richard Alley, one of the study’s authors.

Scientists at Penn State University analyzed 3D satellite images of the glacier, collected by NASA’s ICESat-2 mission. The data allowed them to trace how the formation of cracks contributes to further melting — and vice versa: the processes reinforce each other in a dangerous cycle.

The most vulnerable, according to the researchers, is the eastern part of Thwaites. It is there that the most active cracking is recorded. Among the reasons are warm currents, a decrease in sea ice and local climate changes.

“If Thwaites finally loses stability, it could trigger a domino effect that destabilizes other parts of the Antarctic ice sheet,” says Associate Professor Shujie Wang.

A similar scenario already occurred in 2002, when Larsen B glacier broke up in just five weeks. But Thwaites is almost ten times larger.

The new study, the scientists say, should form the basis for further risk assessments and climate response plans. However, they warn that time is limited: Thwaites’ dynamics could turn the forecast into reality in the coming decades.

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