Antarctica's 'Doomsday glacier' melting fast: What study implies for the world

This suggests that Thwaites could retreat quickly once it has receded past the seabed ridges that are keeping them in check.

"Thwaites is holding on to today by its fingers, and we should anticipate big changes over short timescales in future - even from one to two years - once the glacier retreats past a shallow ridge in its bed," Robert Larter (marine geophysicist, one of the co-authors of the British Antarctic Survey study) stated in the release.

The Thwaites Glacier is located in West Antarctica. It is the largest glacier on Earth, and it is also larger than Florida. NASA says it is only a fraction of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which contains enough ice to raise the sea level up to 16 feet.

This region has been closely watched as the climate crisis has intensified. Its rapid melting and potential for coastal destruction have led to a greater focus on this area.

Scientists have been concerned for decades about the Thwaites Glacier. Researchers questioned the glacier's vulnerability to collapse as early as 1973. Nearly a decade later they discovered that the glacier was grounded to the seabed rather than to dry ground. Warm ocean currents could melt it from beneath, leading to its destabilization.

This research led to scientists naming the area around Thwaites "the weak underbelly" of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.