--- title: "Doomsday Glacier Shows Signs of Imminent Disintegration" description: "A 45 kilometer ice shelf attached to the Thwaites glacier is visibly breaking away from the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet." date: "2026-05-23" modified: "2026-05-23" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/science-energy/doomsday-glacier-disintigration-thwaites" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" --- # Doomsday Glacier Shows Signs of Imminent Disintegration ![Chunks of ice floating on dark, cold water, creating a fragmented icy surface. The ice pieces vary in size and shape, scattered across the water.]() *Getty / Futurism* Bad news for anybody holding out hope for a future free of climate disaster: one of the largest glaciers in the world is about to splinter apart. According [to the *New Scientist*](), a 45 kilometer ice shelf in front of the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica — nicknamed the "doomsday glacier" by some for its role as tipping point for the global climate — is about to break away. Satellite imagery shows that the ice shelf is actively breaking away, with major fissures visible around the point where the sheet connects to the broader glacier. As University of Innsbruck in Austria geophysicist Christian Wild told the *New Scientist*, "suddenly, large areas are just falling to pieces. It looks like a windscreen that's shattering." About the size of Britain, scientists are concerned the Thwaites' collapse will set off a sort of domino effect across the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds enough ice to raise the global sea level by anywhere from [13 to 16 feet](). Earlier this year, a team of researchers and engineers scrambled to [set up camp]() on the rapidly decaying ice sheet, where they planned to fasten scientific instruments to monitor the ongoing collapse. Though the team ultimately failed to plant monitoring equipment under the glacier as planned, they still managed to take some [valuable measurements]() from beneath the "main trunk" of the glacier. That data showed the waters below the Thwaites are much warmer and faster flowing than previously thought, providing a hint as to why the glacier is collapsing at such a rapid pace. While the sheet is still attached to the glacier for now, it's really only a matter of time until it breaks off completely — ushering in a frightening new reality for humanity the world over. **More on climate change:** *[Climate Change Is Getting So Bad That It’s Making Food Less Nutritious]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()