NASA has warned a “doomsday glacier” is on the verge of disintegration, triggering an apocalyptic sea level rise in the process. The solution is to “tackle climate change,” which means the story will be buried deeper than the channels. NASA’s Curiosity rover suffers glitch on Mars, freezes up. The results highlight the need for better observations of the undersides of glaciers to track how they are hit by climate change. Researchers expected to find some holes between ice and bedrock at Thwaites' bottom, however, the size and “explosive growth rate” of the cavity shocked them. To make matters worse, Nasa uncovered an enormous cavity below Thwaites just last year. The Doomsday Glacier adds a new influx of water to the seas in a short period of time. READ MORE: Was Einstein WRONG? This enormous hole is around 300 metres tall and roughly two-thirds the size of Manhattan. A massive research effort is under way to understand Antarctica's Thwaites glacier before it is too late. A massive research effort is under way to understand Antarctica's Thwaites glacier before it is too late. The Doomsday Glacier. Previous research has predicted that a 6ft sea level rise would leave large parts of Kent underwater, while Portsmouth, Cambridge and Peterborough wouldn't fair much better. Studies have shown it is melting at an increasingly rapid pace, with potentially catastrophic effects. "Understanding the details of how the ocean melts away this glacier is essential to project its impact on sea level rise in the coming decades," Professor Rignot said. In 2015, NASA reported Antarctica as a whole was adding tens of thousands of tons of snow and ice each year in its interior. In the last decade, huge chunks of the glacier calved away in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and now in 2020. Can we save it in time? ... NASA, MODIS/NASA. Click here to upload yours. Glaciers everywhere might be melting, but only one has earned the most terrifying nickname: the Doomsday Glacier. The ice mass has been dubbed the “world's most dangerous glacier” as it holds enough ice to raise the world's oceans by more than two feet (65cm). The Thwaites glacier on its own has the potential to raise global sea levels by more than two feet, according to NASA estimates. The cavity was about 300 feet high and just over nine miles long. READ MORE: Mars MYSTERY: NASA probes strange impact crater on red planet. See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, 5 The Thwaites glacier … Another changing feature is a glacier's grounding line — the place near the edge of the continent where it lifts off its bed and starts to float on seawater. AN ENORMOUS lump of ice dubbed the "world's most dangerous glacier" is teetering on the verge of collapse, threatening to raise global sea levels by an unprecedented eight feet. The Thwaites Glacier is the largest, most menacing source of rising sea levels all over the world, and it is melting at an alarming rate. "As more heat and water get under the glacier, it melts faster.". Antarctica's doomsday glacier is melting. This adds a real risk of collapse to the already fast-melting glacier. This enormous hole is around 300 metres tall and roughly two-thirds the size of Manhattan. Nasa has made a series of shocking discoveries about the state of the glacier. But it's Thwaites protective effect on neighbouring glaciers that Nasa is most worried about. Scientists call it the doomsday glacier. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. As it grows, Thwaites will disintegrate faster and faster, potentially triggering a global catastrophe. "We have suspected for years that Thwaites was not tightly attached to the bedrock beneath it," said team member Professor Eric Rignot, a scientist at the University of California. NASA believes the cavity is big enough to have contained 14billion tons of ice, most of which melted only in the last three years. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Andrew's 'sex alibi' in doubt as Beatrice doesn't remember Pizza Express bash, Eugenie & husband mysteriously QUIT Frogmore Cottage after Harry and Meg loan, EastEnders' Patsy Palmer bursts into tears as she remembers Barbara Windsor, Dani Dyer's boyfriend leaves club with three girls while pregnant star at home, Pro cleaner shares quick hacks to dry your washing inside in super quick time, ©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. As it stands, Thwaites overall contribution to rising sea levels is 4%. Nasa has discovered a gigantic cavity under the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica that they say could destabilise the doomsday ice block and topple it into the sea. These results highlight that ice-ocean interactions are more complex than previously understood. Eos (2020, January 10) Controlled Explosions Pave the Way for Thwaites Glacier Research. As it stands, Thwaites overall contribution to rising sea levels is 4%. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. This adds a real risk of collapse to the already fast-melting glacier. This rapid melting is happening in part because natural buffers holding the Thwaites and Pine Glaciers in place are … Tags doomsday doomsday clock doomsday glacier flooding Global warming natural world oceanography storm surge Paul Seaburn is the editor at Mysterious Universe and its most prolific writer. If Thwaites melts, sea levels could jump by up to 2.5 metres, Huge icebergs that have separated from Thwaites are pictured above, A close look at the Thwaites Ice Shelf edge, ‘World’s most dangerous glacier’ could COLLAPSE within decades and ‘sink cities’ as Nasa discovers 1,000-foot ‘doomsday’ cavity lurking below, How to turn Vanish Mode on Instagram on – so your messages disappear after being read, PS5 UK stock latest today - Playstation 5 consoles at The Games Department, GAME, Currys, Very, Smyths, Amazon, Elon Musk and Grimes to makes cameos in dystopian video game Cyberpunk 2077, UK and US military will fight in Call of Duty CODE Bowl tournament THIS week, You could see Northern Lights TONIGHT over UK and US thanks to giant solar flare – how to see it, Xbox Series X stock arriving TODAY at UK retailer Box with promise of 'fairer' ballot system, Shocking drone footage shows space telescope featured in Bond’s GoldenEye COLLAPSE, China taunts West by flying flag on the moon in Chang’e 5 probe mission as space race with US heats up, Fifa 21 PS5 update – free upgrade to loading, graphics and more is out now, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), The global sea level has been gradually rising over the past century, The first is thermal expansion – as water gets warmer, it expands, The second is melting ice on land, adding fresh water into seas, This has a cyclical effect, because melting ice also warms up the planet (and oceans), causing more even ice to melt and boosting thermal expansion, It's currently rising at a rate of around 0.3cm per year, The sea is huge, so that might sound harmless, But rising sea levels can have a devastating effect over time, Low-lying coastal areas can disappear completely, even putting areas of the UK at risk, It can also mean sea storms and tsunamis can have a more devastating effect, reaching further in-land than they would have previously, There's also an increased risk of flooding. Mars MYSTERY: NASA probes strange impact crater on red planet, NASA asteroid WARNING: Bennu ‘on collision course with Earth’, Thwaites Glacier: A yawning cavity at the glacier's base is growing fast, Was Einstein WRONG? By Tom Fish PUBLISHED: 17:00, Tue, Feb 5, 2019 We pay for your stories! These very high-resolution data can be processed by a technique called radar interferometry to reveal how the ground surface below has moved between images. Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . The researchers also used data from a constellation of Italian and German space-borne synthetic aperture radars. And in calamitous news for low-lying counties, NASA researchers have revealed the presence of a previously-unknown yawning cavity at the bottom of Thwaites Glacier. The US National Science Foundation and British National Environmental Research Council are beginning a five-year field project to answer the most critical questions about its processes and features. 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