Context: Scientists have obtained data from beneath the Thwaites Glacier, also known as the “Doomsday Glacier,” for the first time and have said that fears related to Doomsday Glacier’s melting ice are worse than previously thought.

About Doomsday Glacier

• It is also known as Thwaites Glacier located in Antarctica.
• It is 120 km wide at its broadest, fast-moving, and melting fast over the years.
• It contains enough water to raise the world sea level by more than half a metre because of its size (1.9 lakh square km).
• Today, Thwaites’s melting already contributes 4% to global sea-level rise each year.
• It is estimated that it would collapse into the sea in 200-900 years..
• It is important for Antarctica as it slows the ice behind it from freely flowing into the ocean.

Note: The melting of Glacier has long been a cause of concern because of its high potential of speeding up the global sea-level rise happening due to climate change.