A river has been discovered under the Antarctic ice sheet which affects the flow and melting of ice, potentially accelerating ice loss as the climate warms. The 460 km-long river collects water at the ice sheet’s base from an area the size of Germany and France combined. Its discovery shows the base has more active water flow than previously thought. How quickly the system will melt might be hugely underestimated by not accounting for the influence of these river systems. The region studied holds enough ice to raise the sea level globally by 4.3 meters (about 14 feet). It’s another all too common example of how scientists have found that one unexpected thing affects something else with possibly dire consequences.
www.imperial.ac.uk/news/240932/river-longer-than-thames-beneath-antarctic/