Antarctic Ice Shelf Could <br />Disintegrate Within 10 Years, Scientists Warn.<br />The warning was issued during a conference of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in New Orleans.<br />According to an analysis of the Antarctic ice shelf.<br />a portion the size of Florida may break off in the surrounding ocean, leading to a significant rise in sea level.<br />According to the research, which is being reviewed for publication, .<br />the Thwaites Glacier could be destroyed in as few as five years.<br />If Thwaites were to collapse, it would drag most of west Antarctica’s ice with it, Ted Scambos, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, via NBC News.<br />So it's critical to get a clearer picture of how the glacier will behave over the next 100 years, Ted Scambos, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, via NBC News.<br />According to scientists, Thwaites is the "widest glacier in the world.”.<br />Researchers say that it has “doubled its outflow speed within the last 30 years.”.<br />The remaining portion of the glacier is currently locked from the sea by a tenuous eastern ice shelf.<br />The water contained in the Thwaites Glacier alone could result in a rise of sea levels by two feet.<br />However, if its <br />disintegration set <br />off a chain reaction of <br />the surrounding glaciers, .<br />scientists estimate that sea levels <br />could rise by up to ten feet.<br />As of two years ago, Thwaites has already lost more than 14 billion tons of its ice
