Thwaites Glacier goes by an arguably unflattering nickname, the "Doomsday Glacier," and there is a very understandable reason for this. The western Antarctic natural wonder is roughly the size of Florida at 4,000 square miles (192,000 square kilometers), and if it melts, that would be a disaster for humanity. If it collapses on its own, Thwaites will cause sea levels to rise by roughly two feet (65 centimeters). Like an icy domino, however, Thwaites' collapse could trigger other melting events, ultimately increasing sea levels by an estimated 10 feet (3 meters).
That is why scientists reporting in the journal PNAS, and led by the University of Houston, are so concerned. After analyzing the marine sedimentary record to review the glacier's history going back 10,000 years, they discovered that Thwaites began losing large amounts of ice as far back as the 1940s.
