Fears of glacier collapse

investigate how long the 293,000 square kilometre Thwaites Glacier can last in its current form.

A fleet of research ships, submarines and aircraft and more than 80 scientists will be dispatched to the remote West Antarctic region later this year following warnings that the ice structure could collapse within decades.

Glaciologists predict the collapse of both Thwaites and the nearby Pine Island Glacier, two of the largest and fastest retreating on the continent, could cause sea levels to rise by more than a metre. This, in turn, could trigger the collapse of the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet, resulting in ocean rises of more than three metres.

Yesterday, leaders of the project, which comprises the UK’s Natural Environment Research and the US National Science Foundation (NSF), said there were ‘‘reasons to suspect’’ that a Thwaites ice retreat, once started, would be irreversible.

Scott Borg, NSF deputy assistant director for geosciences, said: ‘‘What happens in the Antarctic doesn’t stay in the Antarctic. Thwaites has the poten- tial to affect sea levels worldwide.

‘‘Humanity afford to wait.’’

The five-year project will comprise eight distinct research objectives. It will be one of the biggest Antarctic field missions ever launched.

At nearly 1600km from the nearest permanent base, the glacier is one of the most challenging cannot environments on the continent. The team will need to move more than 200 tonnes of scientific equipment into place in order to investigate the stability of the ice. The scientists will use unmanned submarines to examine the underside of the glacier. They will also enlist the help of seals, which will be fitted with head-worn sensors.

– Telegraph Group