Glaciar Thwaites amenazado infographic
El gráfco muestra cómo se está derritiendo el Glaciar Thwaites y resultados del nuevo estudio.
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El glaciar del Fin del Mundo de la Antártida se derrite con rapidez

By Jordi Bou

February 16, 2023 - Un nuevo estudio que examina de cerca el vasto Glaciar Thwaites de laAntártida muestra que se está filtrando agua tibia en sus puntos débiles, lo que está empeorando el derretimiento causado por la elevación de las temperaturas.

The results from overlapping teams of more than two dozen scientists, published in two papers in the journal Nature, reveal the extent to which human-caused warming could destabilise glaciers in West Antarctica that could ultimately raise global sea level by three metres if they disintegrate over the coming centuries.

As part of the International Thwaites Glacier collaboration – the biggest field campaign ever attempted in Antarctica – a team of 13 U.S. and British scientists spent about six weeks on the glacier in late 2019 and early 2020.

Using an underwater robot vehicle known as Icefin, mooring data and sensors, they monitored the glacier's grounding line, where ice slides off the glacier and meets the ocean for the first time.

The biggest revelation was that the ice melt is very uneven, with relatively slow loss in flat areas on the underside of the glacier.

In parts of the underside of the glacier that are flat and uniform, melt rate is slow – 5m per year – because a layer of fresh water insulates the ice from the warmer water below.

But where there are fissures or sharp steps, the warm water is eroding the glacier at a much higher rate – 30m per year – contributing to nearly one third of ice loss.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 16/02/2023; STORY: Graphic News
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