Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is so remote that only 28 human beings have ever set foot on it. It is one of the widest on Earth and is roughly the size of the state of Gujarat. But it's just a part of the West Antarctic ice sheet which holds enough ice to raise sea level by up to 16 feet, according to NASA.  

As the climate crisis has accelerated, this region has been closely monitored because of its rapid melting and widespread coastal destruction. In 1973, researchers questioned if it was at high risk of collapse.

Nearly a decade later, they found that because the glacier is grounded to a seabed rather than to dry land, warm ocean currents could melt the glacier from underneath, causing it to destabilize from below.  

Peter Davis, an oceanographer with British Antarctic Survey, had once stated to CNN that from the satellite data, we're seeing these big fractures spreading across the ice shelf surface, essentially weakening the fabric of the ice like a windscreen crack. So, it's slowly spreading across the ice shelf, and eventually, it's going to fracture into lots of different pieces. 

Thwaites is one of the worst hit by climate change and rising temperatures. It is a floating ice shelf that acts as a dam to slow the flow of ice off the continent into the ocean. A recent report stated that scientists have now developed a new AI to reveal how it is being damaged.  

Complex interplay 

According to the researchers, over the last six years, the Thwaites Glacier Ice Tongue has sped up and slowed down twice, by around 40% each time- from 4 km a year to 6 km a year before slowing. The team found a complex interplay between crevasse formation and the speed of the ice flow.  

Dr. Anna Hogg, a glaciologist at the University of Leeds, stated that dynamic changes on ice shelves are traditionally thought to occur from decades to centuries. Therefore, it was surprising to see this huge glacier speed up and slow down so quickly. The study also demonstrates the key role that fractures play in uncorking the flow of ice.  

Tracking fractures 

The AI can help track fractures and crevasses in the ice beneath the overlaying snow to predict the fate of the Doomsday glacier better as climate change worsens the conditions. Researchers had earlier revealed that the West Antarctic glacier is in a phase of fast retreat, raising concerns worldwide. 

In a study published in Nature Geoscience, researchers combined Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites and routine synthetic aperture radar imaging of coastal Antarctica with an AI algorithm initially used to identify cells in microscopic images. 

This algorithm will allow scientists to monitor and model changes on this glacier more accurately. Researchers focused on the part of the glacier system where the ice flows into the sea and begins to float- a point known as the grounding line. 

The glacier holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by around 60 CM and is considered by many to be at risk of rapid threat to coastal communities worldwide. The changes to the ice shelves could also have wide-ranging implications for the whole glacier system and future rise in sea level.