A Glacier in Antarctica Is Stealing Ice And Growing Out of Control

Bright Side

In Antarctica, scientists have discovered a strange glacier that seems to be alive — stealing ice from its neighbors and growing stronger every year. Satellite data revealed this mysterious glacier movement, challenging everything we know about how ice flows across the continent. This discovery could explain unusual Antarctica ice loss and the accelerating changes in the region’s climate. In this video, we explore the science behind this “glacier pirate,” how researchers found it, and what it means for the future of our planet. 🌎  Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Ice piracy is like Pirates of the Caribbean, but you gotta swap those tropical seas for

00:06icy freezing waters.

00:08And the captain here isn't Jack Sparrow, but a massive glacier in Antarctica.

00:13Meet the Kohler East Glacier.

00:15Its calm, sparkling surface might look innocent, but don't be mistaken, it is a pirate.

00:21And a pretty skilled one, too.

00:23Instead of gold, it's been stealing ice from its neighbors at record speed.

00:28And scientists can't believe what they're seeing.

00:30So what exactly is ice piracy?

00:34This is a strange kind of glacier movement, where one glacier starts taking ice from another

00:39nearby.

00:41Instead of minding its own business and slowly sliding toward the sea, it suddenly changes

00:46course and begins pulling ice that used to belong to its neighbor.

00:50The pirate glacier speeds up, the victim slows down.

00:55The problem is that the balance of ice in the region might get completely thrown off.

01:00This isn't brand new information, though.

01:02Scientists have known about this quirky behavior for quite a while.

01:06But they used to think that this process took hundreds, maybe even thousands of years.

01:11Now something really strange is happening in Antarctica.

01:14We're seeing, for the first time ever, a glacier pirate in action.

01:19And it's moving much, much faster than anyone expected.

01:23It all started when researchers from the University of Leeds began looking at satellite images taken

01:28between 2005 and 2022.

01:32They wanted to analyze the rates of flow from eight ice streams in West Antarctica.

01:38And yes, glaciers do move.

01:40Think of them as huge piles of snow that have turned into solid ice over time.

01:45This ice slowly changes shape, shifts, and moves.

01:49That's why glaciers are often called rivers of ice, because they flow, for real.

01:55Gravity is what makes it happen.

01:56The ice slowly slides and deforms under its own weight, thanks to the pull of gravity.

02:02And when it comes to glacial movements, they can either advance or retreat.

02:07If more snow and ice build up than melt away, break off, or evaporate, a glacier will advance.

02:13But if it loses more than it gains, it will retreat.

02:17Oh, and glaciers also move at different speeds, depending on things like the slope of the land

02:22beneath them.

02:23But if that flow starts speeding up, well, that's bad news for coastal communities all

02:28over the world.

02:29Because that means more ice is moving from land into the ocean, which contributes to Antarctic

02:34ice loss and, eventually, sea level rise.

02:38Now back to the recent ice research in Antarctica.

02:42The team calculated ice velocity using a tracking technique that measures how visible features,

02:47like cracks or rifts on the ice surface, shift over time.

02:52And they found that seven of those eight Antarctic glaciers had sped up.

02:56On average, they've doubled their speed since 2005.

03:00Given the impacts of how Antarctica's climate is changing, warming up more and more each

03:05year, this doesn't really come as a surprise.

03:08But here's something strange.

03:10One glacier, just one, slowed down.

03:13We're talking about the Kohler West Glacier.

03:16It slowed by about 10% over the study period.

03:20But how can a massive chunk of ice just hit the brakes, so to speak?

03:24To figure that out, researchers looked at its surroundings.

03:28And there it was.

03:29The culprit.

03:30The Kohler East Glacier.

03:32Experts think Kohler West slowed down because it's flowing toward its pirate neighbor, Captain

03:38Whitebeard.

03:39I mean Kohler East.

03:40That one's moving much faster.

03:42In fact, it's one of the fastest glaciers in the area.

03:46Its speed has been increasing by about 105 feet every year over the study period.

03:51Okay, that might sound slow, even for a tortoise.

03:54But for a glacier, that's disturbingly fast.

03:58Kohler East is the Usain Bolt of ice chunks, and that's not even the most impressive part.

04:03The strange thing is that it changed its flow direction.

04:07Instead of moving straight ahead like it used to, it's now turning towards its neighbor,

04:12Kohler West, and pulling ice from it.

04:15Scientists think this is happening because the ice at the point where the glacier meets the

04:19ocean is melting faster than before.

04:22That glacier melting makes the ice thinner, and as it thins, it changes the way the ice

04:27upstream flows.

04:29So now, instead of feeding both glaciers evenly, more of that ice is being funneled onto Kohler

04:34East.

04:35In short, Kohler East is speeding up and changing its course.

04:39So now it's pulling or stealing ice from its slower neighbor.

04:43And just like that, this mysterious glacier in Antarctica became a real ice pirate.

04:49Okay, this whole ice piracy thing isn't that weird.

04:52I mean, it's part of how glaciers normally behave.

04:55Slow, dramatic, and occasionally a little mischievous.

05:00What really blows scientists' minds is how fast it's happening.

05:04They used to think this was a super slow process, something that would take hundreds or even thousands

05:09of years.

05:10But this one is taking place in just 18 years.

05:15And this is a huge satellite discovery in Antarctica.

05:18I mean, scientists were only able to spot it thanks to the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission,

05:23a pair of European satellites that use radar to keep an eye on Earth's surface.

05:28They can track changes in ice, land, and ocean with incredible precision and coverage, making

05:33them perfect for studying how the polar regions are changing.

05:37Because here's the thing, keeping an eye on the coldest parts of our planet is becoming

05:42essential for our future.

05:44And this particular part of Antarctica, where both the Kohler West and East glaciers are located,

05:49is thinning faster than anywhere else.

05:52Its glaciers are retreating at record speed.

05:55The grounding line – I mean, the point where the glacier stops resting on land and starts

06:00floating on the sea – is moving backward.

06:02When that happens, the ice sheet slides into the ocean even faster.

06:07But scientists say glaciers aren't just melting – they're reshaping themselves in completely

06:12new ways.

06:13And that's exactly what's happening with the Kohler East glaciers.

06:17Seeing a pirate glacier in action firsthand has once again changed how scientists look

06:22at things.

06:23The new data on ice piracy shows something they've never seen before.

06:28And floating ice shelves are interacting in new and surprising ways.

06:33So more and more, experts need to rethink how these icy giants behave as the world warms

06:39up.

06:40And that's a big deal.

06:42Because they play a significant role in how fast sea levels rise this century.

06:46In fact, Antarctica's glaciers are one of the biggest reasons our oceans are swelling.

06:51The continent is losing about 135 billion tons of ice every year.

06:57That's like dumping tens of billions of Olympic-sized pools of water into the ocean annually.

07:03If all of its ice melted, sea levels would rise by about 190 feet.

07:08That kind of rise would flood much of Florida and huge areas of the Netherlands and Bangladesh,

07:13for example.

07:14Many small island nations would completely vanish beneath the waves.

07:18Now, you might be asking yourself, what's hiding beneath all of Antarctica's ice?

07:23Well, it might look flat from above.

07:25But underneath that mile-thick layer of ice lays a whole landscape of steep mountains and

07:31deep valleys, crossed by winding rivers.

07:34Those hidden rivers could play a crucial role in how the ice sheet reacts to all this unusual

07:39warmth.

07:41Scientists now predict that as Antarctica's ice sheet keeps melting and thinning over the next

07:46few decades, those subglacial rivers will grow, overflow, and shift into new paths.

07:52This could make some of the biggest glaciers near the coast start to break apart faster.

07:57And that would make sea levels rise more quickly.

08:00So that's why understanding these changing dynamics and glacier movement, like our icy pirate,

08:06is so important.

08:08Every new discovery helps scientists figure out what's really driving Antarctica's glaciers,

08:13and how they are responding to a warming world.

08:16The more we learn about these frozen giants, the better we can predict what might happen

08:21next, and how changes down in Antarctica could ripple across the entire planet.

08:27That's it for today!

08:27So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

08:32friends!

08:33Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

08:36And get then your悪巨っ!

08:37I'll grab the mantle

08:52all the way!

08:53And you've got a straight line!

08:57I'm a retired camp!

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended