£20m study to investigate collapse risk of major Antarctic glacier | Environment | The Guardian

£20m study to investigate collapse risk of major Antarctic glacier | Environment | The Guardian

 The Antarctic project is the biggest between US and British scientists since the 194os. Photograph: U.S. National Science Foundation/PA

British and US scientists are to collaborate on a £20m project to examine the Thwaites glacier in west Antarctica, a major glacier that drains an area about the size of the UK.

The collapse of the glacier could begin within the next few decades or centuries. Understanding more about the likely timing should help the researchers to predict future sea-level rises under global warming. The Thwaites glacier alone is thought to have accounted for about 4% of global sea-level rises, doubling its contribution since the mid-1990s