'Doomsday' Glacier , Melting at Fastest Rate , in 5,500 Years.<br />According to a new study, the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica is losing ice at an alarming rate. .<br />'USA Today' reports that the study of <br />the "doomsday" glacier raises concerns <br />regarding the impending rise of global sea levels.<br />'USA Today' reports that the study of <br />the "doomsday" glacier raises concerns <br />regarding the impending rise of global sea levels.<br />The rapid melting of the glacier <br />was highlighted in a peer-reviewed study <br />published in the journal 'Nature Geoscience.'.<br />According to the results of the study, the glacier began losing ice around 5,000 years ago.<br />Over that time, <br />local sea level rose at <br />a rate of 0.14 inches per year.<br />In the past 30 years, <br />local sea level has risen <br />1.57 inches annually.<br />These currently elevated rates of ice melting <br />may signal that those vital arteries from <br />the heart of the (West Antarctic Ice Sheet) <br />have been ruptured, leading to accelerating <br />flow into the ocean that is potentially <br />disastrous for future global sea level <br />in a warming world, Dylan Rood, co-author and faculty of engineering <br />at Imperial College London, via 'USA Today'.<br />These currently elevated rates of ice melting <br />may signal that those vital arteries from <br />the heart of the (West Antarctic Ice Sheet) <br />have been ruptured, leading to accelerating <br />flow into the ocean that is potentially <br />disastrous for future global sea level <br />in a warming world, Dylan Rood, co-author and faculty of engineering <br />at Imperial College London, via 'USA Today'.<br />According to the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, the Thwaites glacier already accounts for about 4% of global sea level rise.<br />In December, the American Geophysical Union warned <br />that the eventual demise of the glacier has the potential <br />to raise sea levels by up to a foot over the next century.<br />That dramatic change in sea level threatens to impact coastal cities around the world
