The Doomsday Glacier

Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica (photo by Jeremy Harbeck of NASA)

Think of a glacier as a river of ice moving very slowly downhill. For obvious reasons, glaciers only form in really cold climates, such as tall mountains or locations far from the equator. The Thwaites Glacier, named for geologist Fredrik T. Thwaites, is a particularly large glacier covering 74,000 square miles (193,000 square kilometers)—larger than the State of Florida. It is located in Antarctica, about 1,000 miles from the southern tip of South America.[1] At 75 to 80 miles wide, this monster is the widest glacier in the world. The thickness of its ice sheet varies from 2,500 to 4,000 feet. (A mile is 5,280 feet, so the ice is about a half-mile to three-quarters of a mile thick.) If all of that ice were to melt (which might take a hundred years or more), or merely slide into the ocean, ocean levels on the planet would rise more than two feet,[2] with catastrophic results for low-lying islands and coastal cities and villages—a fact that has led to the glacier’s nickname, the “Doomsday Glacier.”

If you understand climate change, you won’t be surprised to learn that this huge glacier is melting—and increasingly so. The amount of ice that breaks off and floats out to sea from the Thwaites Glacier and its neighbor, the Pine Island Glacier, has doubled over the past three decades. Other, smaller Antarctic glaciers are being similarly impacted by our warming climate. In fact, the north and south polar regions are warming faster than the rest of the planet.

The tip of the Doomsday Glacier close to the ocean, known as an ice shelf, is anchored to the sea bed in enough places to keep it relatively stationary. That tip of the glacier helps to slow down the movement of the glacial ice behind it by blocking it. If that ice shelf were to break off, scientists say the glacial ice behind it would reach the ocean much faster, where it would raise ocean levels. Scientists believe that ice shelf could break off soon—although exactly how soon is uncertain—because the anchor points have weakened, large cracks in the ice shelf have developed, and the cracks are growing.

If you would like to learn more about what climate change is, how it is impacting our world, and how it might be fulfilling biblical prophecy, please read Chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “Apocalypse Soon.” You can read it in its entirety for free on this website. Just click here, or click on “Don’s Books” at the top of this page and scroll down to the “List of Contents” under my book, Beyond Blind Faith.

[1] This blog entry is based in part on the following online resources:

“Why Is the Thwaites Glacier Called the ‘Doomsday Glacier’?,” by Mark Mancini, April 16, 2024, found at: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/thwaites-glacier.htm

“The radical intervention that might save the ‘doomsday’ glacier,” by James Temple, January 14, 2022, found at: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/01/14/1043523/save-doomsday-thwaites-glacier-antarctica/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20737314952&gbraid=0AAAAADgO_mg_gvviF6DWtp0y-SelgXI5m&gclid=CjwKCAiAjojLBhAlEiwAcjhrDqqevENEb-5aOwZk7TFlgwbt1lbmoJiiWEejFXq8MxaBq33iPZzjuRoCpq0QAvD_BwE

“New Research from Antarctica Affirms the Threat of the ‘Doomsday Glacier,’ but Funding to Keep Studying It Is Running Out,” by Bob Berwyn, February 26, 2024, found at: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26022024/new-research-from-antarctica-affirms-threat-of-doomsday-glacier-but-funding-is-running-out/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22688141957&gbraid=0AAAAADogIi1PP3HoEPTakpMIv9lky1xE2&gclid=CjwKCAiAjojLBhAlEiwAcjhrDl7wLtSI518H1zG4lIlKcq3G4Po1NMykyWmgqVlvv1xNOeF4kxDexBoC5soQAvD_BwE

“Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Is Melting Even Faster Than Scientists Thought,” By Sachi Kitajima Mulkey & Grist, May 29, 2024, found at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antarcticas-doomsday-glacier-is-melting-even-faster-than-scientists-thought/

“Underwater ‘storms’ are eating away at the Doomsday Glacier. It could have big impacts on sea level rise,” by Laura Paddison, December 10, 2025, found at: https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/climate/underwater-storms-melt-doomsday-pine-island-glaciers-antarctica  

[2]. The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier would also speed the melting of the ice sheet behind it, eventually resulting in sea level rise closer to ten or eleven feet.