Around 99% of the world’s freshwater is currently stored in the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.
One of the biggest threats from climate change is rising sea levels, which is mainly due to the melting of land and sea ice near the poles.
There are two glaciers in West Antarctica that have scientists particularly worried: Thwaites Glacier and Pine Island Glacier.
Both of these glaciers have what are known as ice shelves, which are large walls of ice that float on top of the ocean and act as a ‘cork in the bottle’ to hold the rest of the ice sheet in place. But as the Earth gets warmer, the front of the ice shelves is breaking apart, causing ice to flow into the ocean faster than ever.
On top of that, both Thwaites and Pine Island lie on bedrock that’s below sea level. As warm water undercuts the ice shelves, it’s causing the glaciers to melt from below. That pushes back the point where the edge of the glacier sits on the bedrock, which causes even more ice to be lifted off the land and float on the water. That’s causing global sea levels to rise, just like adding ice cubes to a drink.
If both of these glaciers were to melt, they could raise global sea levels by more than a meter.

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