Discovered a glacier, on which depends the fate of humanity

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Huge glaciers in Antarctica are melting faster than ever before.

Scientists have noticed that a huge glacier in West Antarctica is melting faster than ever before. Every year he loses about 800 meters of ice.

A couple of months ago a group of researchers from the University of Leeds found that the ice sheet of Antarctica in some places is thinner 122 meters. This time, scientists from NASA found that a huge glacier the size of Florida, the West Antarctica is melting faster than ever before.

According to the online edition of the Chronicle.info with reference on the New time, losing 800 metres of ice every year, the Thwaites glacier is responsible for 4% of global sea-level rise. Previously it was thought that in the 1980s, Antarctica has lost 40 billion tons of ice annually, and in the last 10 years this number rose to 252 billion tons every year.

According to a recent estimate, over the last six years, the melting of five large glaciers in Antarctica has doubled, which makes the Thwaites glacier, a ticking time bomb.

“After reaching a certain point, the Thwaites glacier could lose all the ice for 150 years. This will increase global sea level by 50 centimeters,” says the study’s author from NASA Helen Seroussi.

Scientists believe that the glacier is a huge risk for irreversible climate change on Earth, and if he crosses certain point nothing can stop the level of melting, and even the decrease of growth temperature on the planet.

Recall that together with the ice cover of Greenland, the glaciers of Antarctica represent about 99% of fresh water on Earth is stored in ice up to three kilometers. But, due to the greenhouse effect, water in the oceans heats up, causing glaciers to melt much faster.

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