Watch "as the grounding line retreats further inland, it encounters deeper and deeper water, which allows even more warm water to attack the glacier underbelly. It's a runaway feedback loop, a vicious cycle of melting-a glacier the size of the state of Florida is stirring. Scientists who study this colossal river of ice have given it an ominous nickname, the doomsday glacier" Geology Watch report: New Study Reveals The Doomsday Glacier Is Collapsing Faster Than We Thought August 2025 transcript below
At the very bottom of our world lies a
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continent of extremes, a place of
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profound beauty and unforgiving cold,
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Antarctica. It is the most remote and
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hostile environment on Earth. An immense
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desert of ice holding 70% of the
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planet's fresh water. For centuries, we
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saw it as a static frozen giant,
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unchanging and eternal. We were wrong.
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Buried deep in the western part of this
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continent, a single piece of ice, a
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glacier the size of the state of
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Florida, is stirring. Scientists who
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study this colossal river of ice have
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given it an ominous nickname, the
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doomsday glacier. Please, before we
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continue, please subscribe and like. For
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decades, we knew it was melting,
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retreating at a steady pace. But that
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steady pace is gone. New terrifying data
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captured by robotic submarines in the
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dark ocean beneath the ice reveals the
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situation is far more unstable than our
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worst models predicted. The internal
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structure of the glacier is failing and
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its final collapse may not be a problem
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for our grandchildren but one that
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begins in our lifetime. To understand
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the danger, we first have to understand
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the mechanics. The Thuait Glacier isn't
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just a block of ice sitting on land.
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It's a dynamic river of ice flowing from
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the heart of the continent into the
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Ammonson Sea. The front portion of the
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glacier floats out over the ocean,
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creating a massive platform of ice known
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as an ice shelf. This shelf acts like a
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cork in a bottle, bracing the glacier
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behind it and slowing its flow into the
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sea. The entire system stability depends
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on one critical point, the grounding
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line. This is the exact location where
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the glacier lifts off the bedrock and
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begins to float. For a stable glacier,
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this line should remain in roughly the
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same place. But the grounding line of
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thuates is in full retreat. The culprit
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is a force from the deep. Unusually
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warm, salty ocean water, a current
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called the circumpolar deep water, has
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found its way onto the continental
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shelf. It's now circulating directly
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beneath the ice shelf, melting the
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glacier from the bottom up. Imagine a
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frozen fortress, seemingly impenetrable
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from above, being silently eroded from
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its very foundations.
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Scientists first identified Thuait as a
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potential threat in the 1970s, noting
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the unique downward sloping bedrock
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beneath it. This means that as the
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grounding line retreats further inland,
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it encounters deeper and deeper water,
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which allows even more warm water to
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attack the glaciers underbelly. It's a
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runaway feedback loop, a vicious cycle
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of melting and retreat that once started
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is nearly impossible to stop. For years,
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our understanding of this underwater
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melting was based on satellite data and
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computer models. But we had never seen
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it with our own eyes. To change that, an
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international team of scientists
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embarked on a dangerous expedition to
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the front line of the glacier. They
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drilled through half a kilometer of ice
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to deploy an underwater robot named Ice
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Fin into the darkness below. And what it
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found was shocking. The robot's cameras
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and sensors revealed a world of chaos.
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The underside of the glacier wasn't a
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smooth, uniform surface. It was a
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landscape of deep canyons, terrace
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slopes, and massive fissures. A sign
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that the warm ocean water was melting
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the ice in complex and aggressive ways.
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The melting wasn't just happening at the
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grounding line. It was happening all
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across the bottom of the ice shelf. But
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the most alarming discovery was the
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extent of the internal damage. These
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fissures and cracks weren't just on the
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surface. They were cutting up through
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the entire thickness of the ice shelf.
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The warm water is infiltrating these
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cracks, widening them and weakening the
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structural integrity of the ice from the
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inside out. The lead scientists now
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believe the ice shelf could shatter like
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a car windshield. It won't be a slow,
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graceful melt. It could be a rapid,
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catastrophic disintegration. Their
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latest models based on this new data
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suggest this final shattering of the
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protective ice shelf could happen in as
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little as 5 to 10 years. Once that
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barrier is gone, the cork is out of the
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bottle and the massive glacier behind it
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will be free to accelerate its flow into
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the ocean. The numbers are difficult to
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comprehend. The collapse of the Thuait's
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glacier by itself contains enough ice to
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raise global sea levels by over 2 ft or
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65 cm. This alone would be devastating,
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redrawing coastlines and causing
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trillions of dollars in damage to
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coastal cities like Miami, Jakarta, and
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Venice. But that is only the beginning
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of the doomsday scenario. Thuait is the
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weak link, the gateway to the entire
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West Antarctic ice sheet. If Thuait
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goes, it will destabilize the glaciers
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surrounding it, triggering a chain
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reaction of collapse. That larger ice
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sheet holds enough water to raise global
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sea levels by a truly catastrophic 10 ft
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or 3 m. An entire global civilization
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built on the stability of our coastlines
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would be thrown into chaos. This isn't a
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distant threat for a far-off future
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generation. The new data shows the
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process is already underway, happening
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faster than we ever thought possible.
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The fate of our world's coastal cities
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may not be decided in parliaments or
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boardrooms, but by the physics of a
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single colossal glacier at the bottom of
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the world. It serves as a stark and
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powerful reminder that the great forces
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of our planet are interconnected and a
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change in one remote corner can be felt
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by us all. The doomsday glacier is
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sending a warning and we must.
kay blogger
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