Scientists Unearth Alarming Discoveries from Robot Expedition Under Doomsday Glacier
Staff Editor Scientists have recently sent a torpedo-like robot to investigate Antarctica’s Doomsday Glacier, and the findings are alarming. The robot has revealed deep cracks in the glacier along with worrying “staircase” formations which could indicate that it is melting faster than previously thought.
The Doomsday Glacier, or Thwaites Glacier as it is also known, holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by more than two feet if it were to melt completely. Researchers from Britain and America used an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) called Icefin for their mission; this was equipped with cameras and sonar technology so they could observe what lies beneath the surface of the glacier without having to drill through hundreds of meters of ice first.
The AUV found evidence that warm ocean water is reaching further inland than expected under part of Thwaites’ floating edge – something which will accelerate its melting rate even further if left unchecked by climate change mitigation efforts worldwide. The scientists behind this project hope that their discoveries will help inform future action on climate change before too much damage can be done by rising sea levels caused by glaciers like these melting away faster each year due to human activity on our planet Earth.
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