'Underwater storms' are rapidly melting Antarctica's ice shelves
Antarctica's ice shelves are being hit by "underwater storms"—fast, swirling ocean currents that shove warm water beneath the ice and melt it from below.
Scientists from UC Irvine and NASA JPL discovered these hidden storms disrupt the protective cold layer under the ice, letting in more ocean heat.
Why does this matter?
These underwater storms contribute significantly to underwater ice loss.
It's a feedback loop: more melting means more turbulence, which then fuels even stronger storms and faster melt.
What could happen next?
If too much of West Antarctica's ice goes, global sea levels could rise by over three meters—enough to seriously affect coastlines everywhere.
Since these underwater storms work on days-long timescales (not years), big changes could come sooner than we'd hoped, especially as oceans keep warming up.