In Pics: Doomsday glacier to crumble anytime now, will lift global sea level by 3 metres
Glaciers lose more than half a trillion tonnes of ice annually
Since 2000, the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica have lost more than half a trillion tonnes of ice annually, or six freezing Olympic swimming pools per second. The single largest cause of sea level rise, which has accelerated three times in the recent decades compared to much of the 20th century, has been amplified by these kilometres-thick ice cubes.
Thwaites: Antarctica's fastest-moving glacier
Thwaites has retreated 14 kilometres since the 1990s and is one of the continent's fastest-moving glaciers. It is largely submerged in water and is vulnerable to irreparable ice loss.
This is how rising ocean levels will impact the humanity
According to a study that was just published in the American Geophysical Union journal Earth's Future, rising ocean levels will destroy agriculture in some cities, contaminate water sources, and displace millions of people much sooner than previously believed
Asia and Africa among the worst-hit continents
Global warming has increased sea level by 20 centimetres since 1900, which has increased the destructive force of ocean storms and is pushing salt water into populated, low-lying agricultural deltas throughout Asia and Africa.
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