Researchers from Northumbria University have been awarded £754,000 to take part in one of the most detailed and extensive examinations of a massive Antarctic glacier ever undertaken. A new £20 million research collaboration has been announced between the UK and USA to gather data on the Thwaites Glacier, with the aim of establishing whether the glacier will collapse over the next few decades or centuries.
Antarctica’s glaciers contribute to sea-level rise when they lose more ice to the ocean than is replaced by snow. The Thwaites Glacier is approximately two thirds the size of Britain, and its collapse could significantly affect global sea levels, causing them to rise by between three and five metres. The glacier is already impacting global sea levels as it loses ice into the ocean. Scientists are worried that this may just be the beginning and that ice loss may accelerate in the future.
To better understand how changes in the glacier have previously occurred, and are likely to occur in future, the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council has joined forces with the US National Science Foundation to fund eight large-scale projects over five years that will bring together leading polar scientists in one of the most inhospitable regions of the planet. Read more.