Hey everyone, welcome back to our channel dedicated to science and technology news.
Today, we’re talking about the world’s widest glacier and what scientists have discovered about it using a pencil-shaped robot.
Antarctica’s Thwaites ice shelf, also known as the “Doomsday Glacier” due to its potential to cause massive sea level rise, has been under scrutiny by researchers for a while now.
But until recently, they had no observations from a critical part of the glacier – until they sent in the ‘Icefin’ robot.
The robot, which is four meters long, swam past the grounding line where the ice meets the sea to a ‘shimmering’ spot under Thwaites.
What the researchers found was shocking – “it’s melting so quickly, there’s just material streaming out of the glacier,” says polar scientist Britney Schmidt.
But that’s not all.
The robot was also lowered down a 587-meter hole to get a better look at the crevasses that are contributing to the fracturing of the ice.
As it turns out, crevasses are taking a heavier toll on the glacier than melting itself.
Foreign [Music] Hey everyone welcome back to our Channel Dedicated to science and technology news Today we're talking about the world's Whitest Glacier and what scientists have Discovered about it using a Pencil-shaped robot antarcticist weights Ice shelf also known as the Doomsday Glacier due to its potential to cause Massive sea level rise has been under Scrutiny by researchers for a while now But until recently they had no Observations from a critical part of the Glacier until they sent in the isofen Robot the robot which is four meters Long swam past the grounding line where The ice meets the sea to a shimmering Spot under Thwaites what the researchers Found was shocking it's melting so Quickly there's just material streaming Out of the glacier says polar scientist Brittany Schmidt but that's not all the Robot was also lowered down a 587 meter Hole to get a better look at the Crevices that are contributing to the Fracturing of the ice as it turns out Crevices are taking a heavier toll on The glacier than melting itself that's How the glacier is falling apart it's Not thinning and going away it shatters Explains Schmidt who is also the lead Author of one of the two new studies Published in the journal Nature so what
Does this mean for the future of thwaits And sea level rise while it's unlikely That the entire Glacier will melt for Hundreds of years the researchers found That warmer water is nibbling away at The bottom of the glacier causing Sideways melt of 30 meters or more per Year this coupled with the fact that Glacier Retreat is a much bigger problem Than melting could have a significant Impact on sea levels in the future but It's not all doom and gloom the Researchers also discovered some Unexpected sea creatures living under The glacier sea anemones to be exact to Accidentally find them here in this Environment was really really cool says Schmidt it's really kind of a wild Experience so what do you think about The isofin robots discoveries let us Know in the comments below and don't Forget to subscribe to our channel for More Science and Tech news Foreign [Music]
