The Thwaites “Doomsday” Glacier
The Thwaites “Doomsday” Glacier
The whats and whens you should know
The Thwaites Glacier, also known as the doomsday glacier, is in West Antarctica, is 80 miles wide, and roughly the size of Florida. As one of the biggest glaciers in the world, studies show that its demise would have huge effects on sea-levels rising, and could wipe coastal areas and small islands off the map–displacing tens of millions of people. Warming ocean waters have led to the glacier losing around 50 billion pounds of ice per year, and that number is increasing (more than 1 trillion pounds lost since 2000).¹
Following the collapse of Thwaites, doomsday may not come to pass, but the effects will be unprecedented. Current models show a potential rise in sea-level of up to 11 feet.² As warm ocean water melts the lower parts of the glacier and the ice shelf, the more rapidly it loses its hold on the continental shelf below, increasing stress and fractures throughout the glacier. Researchers from the AGU say the ice shelf could shatter in as little as 3 years, and that eventually, “[Thwaites] collapse could trigger a cascade of glacial collapse in Antarctica”.³
If there is a rise in sea-level of just 3 feet, major cities like New York, Tokyo, and Miami, as well as islands like the Maldives, will be overwhelmed.⁴ If it approaches 11 feet, coasts everywhere will be underwater. Energy, transportation, and communications systems in these areas would be devastated in their current state. If political and business leaders don’t have the foresight to prepare, and infrastructure isn’t developed before it’s too late, the doomsday glacier may actually live up to its name.
Remember, the biggest disaster on American soil was in large part caused by flooding. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina alone killed thousands, displaced millions and cost roughly $150 billion.⁵ The response was historically tragic, as were preparations. If they had been better, damages could have been prevented, resources would have been better used, and most importantly, lives would have been saved (Nicholas Lemann’s article in The New Yorker, Why Hurricane Katrina Was Not a Natural Disaster, explains just that).
At this point, there is still time to put plans and preparations in place to avoid another such disaster. The question is whether we have the will and the leadership. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself.