A stark warning has been issued by scientists as a glacier the size of Florida, or 539 Malta’s, is ‘hanging on by its fingernails.

For some perspective, Florida is around 170,312km², whereas Malta is a measly 316km² in comparison. That means you can fit our Mediterranean island up to 539 times in this frozen monolith.

The Thwaites Glacier in West Antartica, also dubbed the ‘Doomsday Glacier, is acting as sort of an armageddon clock when it comes to the impacts of climate change and global sea level rise.

A team of scientists from around the globe launched a state-of-the-art robotic vehicle with imaging sensors to gather evidence, followed by further projects on this glacier. 

It has now been found that at some point in the last 200 years, over a duration of less than 6 months, the front of the glacier lost contact with a seabed ridge and retreated at a rate of over 2.1 kilometres per year. 

The project in essential in providing information to inform global planning efforts as many countries and organisations attempt to set goals and standards to reduce our damaging impacts on the planet as a whole. 

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