Scientists Reveal: Doomsday Glacier Could Collapse Earlier Than Anticipated. 

Thwaites is approximately the same size as Florida and represents more than half of a meter (1.6ft) of global sea-level rise potential.

Scientists are studying Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier, also known as the Doomsday Glacier. They believe warm water seeping into its weak points is worsening melting due to rising temperatures.

A team of 13 scientists from the United States and Britain spent six weeks on the glacier as part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration - the largest field campaign in Antarctica - in late 2019 & early 2020.

They used an underwater robot vehicle called Icefin to monitor the glacier's grounding lines, where ice slides off the glacier and meets the ocean for the first time.

Britney Schmidt, Cornell University scientist, was the lead researcher in one of the papers. She found that warmer water was entering crevasses and other openings called terraces. This caused sideways melt of at least 30 meters (98 feet), per year.

Schmidt was also involved in the research of the other paper. It showed that there were approximately five meters (16 feet) of melt per year near the glacier’s grounding line. This is less than the predictions made by the most rigorous thinning models. She said that melting is still a serious concern.

Paul Cutler, National Science Foundation program director for Antarctic Sciences, stated that the findings will be useful in developing climate change models. He stated that "these things can now be taken into the models that predict future behavior, which was precisely the purpose of this work."