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Warning of ‘dramatic’ changes coming to Antarctica’s ‘doomsday glacier’

The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is seen in this undated NASA image. Vast glaciers in West Antarctica seem to be locked in an irreversible thaw linked to global warming that may push up sea levels for centuries, scientists said on May 12, 2014. Six glaciers including the Thwaites Glacier, eaten away from below by a warming of sea waters around the frozen continent, were flowing fast into the Amundsen Sea, according to the report based partly on satellite radar measurements from 1992 to 2011. REUTERS/NASA/Handout via Reuters (ANTARCTICA - Tags: ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) 
ATTENTION EDITORS - FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is seen in this NASA image (Reuters)

Scientists have issued new warnings over a glacier in Antarctica described as ‘the doomsday glacier’, due to the catastrophic effects if it collapsed.

Even now, ice draining from Thwaites into the Amundsen Sea accounts for about four percent of global sea-level rise - as it dumps 50 billion tonnes of ice into the ocean each year.

But scientists speaking to the BBC have warned that dramatic changes could occur within ten or even five years.

The scientists warn that a floating section of Thwaites Glacier could ‘shatter like a car windscreen.’

Prof Ted Scambos, US lead coordinator for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) said, "There is going to be dramatic change in the front of the glacier, probably in less than a decade. Both published and unpublished studies point in that direction.

"This will accelerate the pace (of Thwaites) and widen, effectively, the dangerous part of the glacier.”

If it collapses, it could raise sea levels about 65cm as it melts, but it could trigger a runaway collapse across the Western half of Antarctica which could lead to a sea level rise of up to 6ft, scientists told the Financial Times.

Such a rise would be catastrophic for coastal cities around the world.

Read more: Antarctic records hottest temperature ever

Paul Cutler, programme director for Antarctic glaciology at America’s National Science Foundation said, “It is a keystone for the other glaciers around it in West Antarctica . . . If you remove it, other ice will potentially start draining into the ocean too.”

Cutler says that the Thwaites glacier is losing ice faster and faster, and that the process seems to be accelerating.

Cutler said, “The big question is how quickly it becomes unstable. It seems to be teetering at the edge.”

Teams of scientists are drilling intoThwaites Glacier, to find out if it’s about to collapse.

Thwaites Glacier is 74,000 square miles, the size of Great Britain, and is thought to be particularly susceptible to climate change.

Over the past 30 years, the amount of ice flowing out of Thwaites and its neighbouring glaciers has nearly doubled.

Read more: Antarctica now has more than 65,000 meltwater lakes

Rob Larter, UK principal investigator for the Thwaites Glacier Project at the British Antarctic Survey told the FT, “It is the most vulnerable place in Antarctica.”

The South Pole, the most remote place on the planet, has warmed three times faster than other areas over the past three decades, researchers say.

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