PREVIEW

Vital Antarctic glacier holding back major sea level rises is 'speeding up fast’. The Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica’s single largest contributor to sea-level rise, has accelerated sharply since 2017, according to new research. Now flowing at nearly 5 kilometers (3 miles) per year, it remains the fastest-moving glacier on the continent. Pine Island is a key part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by about 5.3 meters if it melted entirely. Together with the Thwaites Glacier, often called the “Doomsday Glacier,” it helps stabilize a vulnerable region of the Antarctic ice sheet. The Pine Island ice shelf has long acted as a buttress, slowing inland ice flow and shielding it from warmer ocean waters. Researchers estimate the shelf has been holding back ice equivalent to roughly 51 centimeters of global sea-level rise. A study led by Sarah Wells-Moran of the University of Chicago, using Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data and observations dating to the 1970s, found the glacier’s speed more than doubled since 1974. Scientists warn that continued acceleration could significantly impact global coastlines in the coming decades.
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