Scientists warn critical ice shelf in Antarctica could shatter within 5 years

Satellite images taken as recently as last month suggest a critical ice shelf keeping together the Thwaites glacier in western Antarctica -- an important defense against global sea level rise -- could shatter within the next three to five years.

Satellite images taken as recently as last month, which researchers presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union Monday, suggest the critical ice shelf keeping together the Thwaites glacier in western Antarctica -- an important defence against global sea level rise -- could shatter within the next three to five years.

Antarctica's Thwaites glacier is known as the "Doomsday glacier," due to the serious risk it poses during its melting process. It has dumped billions of tons of ice into the sea, and its demise could lead to irreversible changes throughout the planet.

The glacier, which equals the size of Florida or Great Britain, already accounts for about 4% of annual global sea level rise, loses roughly 50 billion tons of ice each year, and is becoming highly vulnerable to the climate crisis. The fall of the ice shelf could bring the impending collapse of Antarctica's critical glacier.

If the Thwaites collapsed, the event could raise sea levels by several feet, researchers say, putting coastal communities as well as low-lying island nations further at risk.