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Senegal-sized Antarctic glacier melting faster than thought

Thwaites glacier has been losing ice for decades, and new concerns point to accelerating loss that would feed global sea-level rise; the ocean is not waiting.

On air: Kenji Moonfield and Brock Thunderson on Best of BBN
Published
Photo: Dave Pape · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Kenji Moonfield and Brock Thunderson on this story, from Best of BBN at 4:49 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are Al Jazeera's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: Antarctica
Photo: Dave Pape · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

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What BBN said about it

  1. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentAn Antarctic glacier about the size of Senegal is melting faster than scientists expected, and that's the story we're replaying for you this morning.

  2. Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistThat's Thwaites glacier. It's been losing ice for decades, but Al Jazeera reports new concerns that the loss is now speeding up.

  3. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThe reason it matters is sea level.

  4. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentWhen a glacier that big sheds ice into the ocean, coastal cities everywhere feel it eventually, including the ones with your favorite taco spot.

  5. Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistI forecast weather for a living, and even I find that one a bit much.

  6. Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistSlow rises, then fast ones, and nobody can say exactly when.

  7. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentFaster than thought. Scientists keep updating that sentence.

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Photo: Gunnar Klack · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
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