Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is losing mass and has the potential to cause substantial sea level rise. New seabed imagery indicates that the glacier previously retreated at double its current rate, implying that mass loss could accelerate in the near future.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Fox-Kemper, B. et al. Ocean, Cryosphere and Sea Level Change. In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis (eds Masson-Delmotte, V. et al.) (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
Rignot, E. et al. PNAS 116, 1095–1103 (2019).
Naughten, K. A. et al. Geophys. Res. Lett. 49, e2021GL094566 (2022).
Graham, A. et al. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01019-9 (2022).
Goodell, J. The Doomsday Glacier. Rolling Stone https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/the-doomsday-glacier-113792/ (2017).
Dowdeswell, J. A. et al. Science 368, 1020–1024 (2020).
Smith, J. A. et al. Nature 541, 77–80 (2017).
Holland, P. R., Bracegirdle, T. J., Dutrieux, P., Jenkins, A. & Steig, E. J. Nat. Geosci. 12, 718–724 (2019).
Paolo, F. S. et al. Nat. Geosci. 11, 121–126 (2018).
dos Santos, T. D., Barnes, J. M., Goldberg, D. N., Gudmundsson, G. H. & Morlighem, M. Geophys. Res. Lett. 48, GL093102 (2021).
Fürst, J. J. et al. Nat. Climate Change 6, 479–482 (2016).
Wild, C. T. et al. The Cryosphere 16, 397–417 (2022).
Chown, S. L. et al. Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (Cambridge, 2022).
Stokes, C.R. et al. Nature 608, 275–286 (2022).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mackintosh, A. Thwaites Glacier and the bed beneath. Nat. Geosci. 15, 687–688 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01020-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-01020-2