Using icebreaker ships and underwater robots, scientists have found that the so-called “Thwaites Glacier” in Antarctica is melting at an ever-increasing rate and may have entered an irreversible path and is ready to collapse, wreaking havoc everywhere.

Since 2018, according to CNN, a group of scientists members of the International Thwaites Glacier Club have been closely studying the Apocalypse Glacier in order to understand when it might collapse.

Their findings, which have resulted from numerous surveys, give the clearest picture yet of this complex and ever-changing glacier. The outlook is “bleak,” the scientists said in a report published Thursday, revealing the key findings of their six-year study.

What the collapse of the Apocalypse Glacier means for the planet

The glacier is losing ice at a rapid rate. In particular, the acceleration of ice retreat has accelerated over the past 30 years, said Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey and a member of the ITGC team. “Our findings show that the ice is going to retreat further and faster,” he said.

Scientists predict that the Thwaites Glacier and the Antarctic ice sheet could collapse within 200 years, with catastrophic consequences.

Thwaites Glacier has enough water to raise sea levels by more than 2 feet (600 cm). But because it also acts like a cork, holding back the massive Antarctic ice sheet, its collapse could eventually lead to a sea level rise of about 10 feet (3 meters), devastating coastal communities from Miami and London to Bangladesh and the Pacific Islands.

Why are scientists worried?

There is concern that if the Thwaites ice caps collapse, they will leave towering ice cliffs exposed in the ocean. These tall rocks could easily become unstable and fall into the ocean, exposing even taller rocks behind them, the process repeating itself over and over again.

However, computer modeling has shown that while this phenomenon is real, the chances of it happening are less than scientists previously feared.

That doesn’t mean Thwaites is safe.

Scientists predict that the entire Thwaites Glacier and the Antarctic ice sheet behind it could disappear by the 23rd century. Even if people stop burning fossil fuels quickly – which they don’t – it may be too late to save him.

While this stage of the ITGC project is coming to an end, scientists say more research is still needed to understand this complex glacier and understand whether its retreat is now irreversible.

“Although progress has been made, we still have deep uncertainty about the future,” said Eric Rignot, a glaciologist at the University of California, Irvine and a member of the ITGC. “I remain very concerned that this sector of Antarctica is already in a state of collapse.”