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[00:00.68] In two recent studies, researchers say warm water is melting weak areas on Antarctica’s huge Thwaites Glacier.

[00:12.90] Two research papers describing melting recently appeared in the publication Nature.

[00:21.13] The research results came after an investigative effort involving a team of 13 American and British scientists.

[00:32.03] Teams spent about six weeks on the glacier in late 2019 and early 2020.

[00:40.53] The researchers used an underwater robot vehicle equipped with instruments and sensors to collect data.

[00:50.35] They were able to measure the glacier's grounding line, the place where glacial ice stops being supported by land and starts being supported by water.

[01:03.37] One of the papers was led by Cornell University-based scientist Britney Schmidt.

[01:11.60] She reported the warmer water was making its way into crevasses and other openings known as terraces, which caused sideways melt of 30 meters or more per year.

[01:27.28] "Warm water is getting into the weakest parts of the glacier and making it worse," Schmidt told Reuters news agency.

[01:37.37] "That is the kind of thing we should all be very concerned about," she said about the latest findings.

[01:45.60] Schmidt’s paper said the collapse of the Thwaites Glacier “represents more than half a meter of global sea-level-rise.”

[01:56.23] It could also influence events leading to a three-meter rise in the sea levels over several hundred years.

[02:06.32] Schmidt also worked on the other paper's findings.

[02:10.83] That research showed about five meters per year of melt near the glacier's grounding line.

[02:18.81] This level was less than what the most aggressive thinning scientific potential models had predicted.

[02:28.11] But Schmidt said the melting was still extremely concerning.

[02:33.68] "If we observe less melting...that doesn't change the fact that it's retreating," she added.

[02:41.65] In the past, scientists have depended on satellite images to show the behavior of the ice, making it difficult to get detailed results.

[02:54.40] The papers represent the first time a team has gone to the grounding line of a major glacier, providing a look into where "the action begins," Schmidt said.

[03:09.01] The findings should help with the development of climate change models, said Paul Cutler.

[03:18.30] He is the program director of Antarctic Sciences at the National Science Foundation.

[03:24.42] He examined the papers, but was not involved in the research.

[03:30.26] "These things can now be taken on board in the models that will predict the future behavior,” Cutler said.

[03:39.29] “And that was exactly the goal of this work," he added.