Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier Loss May Speed Up

An underwater ridge may be the only thing holding back the retreat of Antarctica's fast-flowing Thwaites Glacier, which drains into west Antarctica's Amundsen Sea, and it could speed up within 20 years, says a new study in Geophysical Research Letters.Thwaites Glacier is being closely watched for its potential to raise global sea levels as the planet warms but neighboring glaciers in the Amundsen region are also thinning rapidly, including Pine Island Glacier and the much larger Getz Ice Shelf. The study highlights the importance of seafloor topography in predicting how these glaciers will behave in the near future. read more

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