Antarctic Ice Shelves Crumble Under Underwater Storms

Swirling underwater "storms" are rapidly melting the ice shelves of two crucial Antarctic glaciers, Pine Island and Thwaites. These submesoscale eddies, which can span up to six miles, form when warm and cold water meet. Racing beneath the ice shelves, they churn up warmer, deeper ocean water, exacerbating melting at vulnerable points.

This phenomenon, analyzed over hours and days for the first time, accounts for a significant portion of melting at these glaciers. Researchers have identified a concerning feedback loop: as ice melts, it releases cold freshwater, which mixes with warmer, saltier water, generating more turbulence and further increasing melt.

The ice shelves play a critical role in holding back glaciers from flowing into the ocean. The collapse of Thwaites Glacier alone could lead to over two feet of global sea level rise, with its failure potentially contributing to ten feet of rise by acting as a plug for the larger Antarctic ice sheet.