A huge inner cavity has been discovered in the so-called Doomsday Glacier (Thwaites Glacier) in Antarctica, suggesting that the glacier is melting faster than previously thought.
Materials about the discovery of scientists were published in the Independent (UK).
With the help of a drone, lowered to a depth of 700 m through a drilled hole in the glacier, NASA scientists filmed the first video from the level of contact between the glacier and the earth's surface on which it now lies.
It has been established that the warm ocean water that penetrates this level promotes the slow melting of ice at the base of the glacier, making possible the collapse of a significant part of it, and its subsequent entry into the World Ocean.
If this part of the glacier completely melts, the water level in the World Ocean will rise by about 0.5 m. It is believed that this will be enough to flood major coastal cities around the world.
In addition, a glacier the size of the British Isles acts as a barrier that prevents the warm waters of the World Ocean from penetrating the vast West Antarctica. In the event of the destruction of the glacier, the rate of melting of the Antarctic ice sheet in the west of the continent will sharply increase, and this will also contribute to an increase in the water level in the World Ocean.