NASA warned of an Antarctic glacier that threatens to raise the sea level

The National Administration of Aeronautics and Space (NASA, for its acronym in English) warned on the disintegration of the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic western, what This would increase the sea level.

A gigantic cavity, 40 square kilometers and 300 meters high, grows at the bottom of the Thwaites. Scientists have stressed the need to look in detail at the lower Antarctic glaciers, as they can calculate the speed at which sea level will rise in response to the global warming.

While the researchers were hoping to find gaps between the ice and the bottom, the size and explosive growth rate of the new hole surprised them because they are large enough to contain 14,000 million tonnes of iceand most of this ice melted in the last three years.

"For years, we suspect that the Thwaites were not firmly attached to its rocky base," he said. Eric Rignot, a researcher at the University of California and NASA, in a statement from the agency. To confirm this hypothesis, the scientist and his companions used new radars capable of penetrating the thick layer of ice.

This glacier is responsible for about 4% sea ​​level rise: it can lift the global ocean by just over two centimeters. As well holds the neighboring glaciers this would raise the level to 2.4 centimeters if all the ice was lost.