In a development that has drawn wide attention in climate research, antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is melting from below. It is the kind of result that blurs the line between a scholarly finding and mainstream news — rigorous in substance, yet consequential enough to matter far beyond the lab.
What happened
Its collapse could raise seas substantially.
Behind the result
Warm water is undercutting the ice shelf.
The significance
Robotic subs surveyed the grounding line.
Caveats
It is nicknamed the doomsday glacier.
In short
It is nicknamed the doomsday glacier.
The wider view
Researchers caution that findings like this evolve as work is replicated and extended, but the trajectory is clear: climate is moving fast, and the thwaites glacier and the threat of collapse marks a notable step.
