The Doomsday Glacier Is Hanging on "By Its Fingernails," Scientists Say

If the "doomsday glacier" collapses faster than expected, all hell may break loose.

A new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience has found that the Florida-sized Thwaites glacier, which has been in a steady "collapse" pattern, could soon be entering what the University of South Florida-based research team characterized as a "very"

The "doomsday" glacier could break off from Antartica within the next 10 years and cause sea levels to rise so much that it would affect the world's huge coastal population.

A retreat of Thwaites could cause sea level to rise from three to ten feet.

The co-author of the study had bad news about the "doomsday" glacier.

"We should expect to see big changes in the future, even from one year to the next, once the glacier retreats beyond a shallow ridge in its bed," he said.

As the press release states, the way scientists came to this conclusion was as risky as it was happenstance.

The research team launched its state-of-the-art and very orange robotic vehicle, named Rn, in front of the glacier. During its 20-hour journey, which was notable because the summer seas in front of Thwaites were free of sea ice, the robot mapped an area of the seabed in front of the glacier.

They found something that was amazing but also frightening.

The leading edge of Thwaites was treated and bobbed up and down with the daily tides, thanks to more than 160 parallel ridges discovered by an international team of researchers.

The scientists believe that even though the glacier has seen a lot of retreat in the past century, it experienced much greater changes in the past, which could mean that it could have similarly dramatic retreats in its near future.

The study dispelled the idea of ice sheets moving slowly. The ice has moved in more dramatic ways than was previously thought.

As it continues to retreat, that will not be good news.

A small kick to Thwaites could lead to a big response.

That big response could mean trouble for us humans.

The understanding of Thwaites Glacier retreat has been upended by new seafloor images, the highest resolution of any taken off the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Bill Nye doesn't like the idea of the collapse of the "Doomsday Glacier".