--- title: Climate Change: Glaciers Are Crumbling in Southern Antarctica description: Previously stable glaciers have been melting rapidly since 2009 canonical: https://time.com/3894137/antarctica-glaciers-melting/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-22T14:59:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:11.161Z article:section: Science og:title: Glaciers Are Crumbling in Southern Antarctica Faster Than Previously Thought og:description: Previously stable glaciers have been melting rapidly since 2009 og:url: https://time.com/3894137/antarctica-glaciers-melting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Glaciers Are Crumbling in Southern Antarctica Faster Than Previously Thought twitter:description: Previously stable glaciers have been melting rapidly since 2009 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Glaciers Are Crumbling in Southern Antarctica Faster Than Previously Thought ## Video: Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8) (0:48)  _Published 2013-05-09. Climate Change_ by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson May 22, 2015 2:59 PM UTC by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson May 22, 2015 2:59 PM UTC Multiple large glaciers that were previously not thought to be in danger of melting have been crumbling since 2009, according to [a new study published in](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/sudden-impact-glaciers-crumble-previously-stable-area-antarctica-n362771?cid=sm%5Ftw&hootPostID=5a63531ce470693889eaeca0c1ca29df) _Science_. Researchers have discovered that glaciers on the southern Antarctic Peninsula’s coastline have been steadily thinning over the past several years, with some dwindling by as much as 13 feet per year. The glaciers had not shrunk significantly before 2009. The rate of melting makes the region “the second most important contributor to sea level rise in Antarctica,” lead study author Bret Wouters told NBC News. Overall, 80 trillion gallons of water were added to ocean by the Southern Antarctic Peninsula between 2009 and 2014\. Continued melting could raise sea levels by another 14 inches. \[[_NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/sudden-impact-glaciers-crumble-previously-stable-area-antarctica-n362771?cid=sm%5Ftw&hootPostID=5a63531ce470693889eaeca0c1ca29df)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3894137/antarctica-glaciers-melting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3894137/antarctica-glaciers-melting/"},"headline":"Glaciers Are Crumbling in Southern Antarctica Faster Than Previously Thought","datePublished":"2015-05-22T14:59:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:11.161Z","description":"Previously stable glaciers have been melting rapidly since 2009","url":"https://time.com/3894137/antarctica-glaciers-melting/","keywords":["climate change","global warming"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3894137/antarctica-glaciers-melting/","name":"Glaciers Are Crumbling in Southern Antarctica Faster Than Previously Thought"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change","description":"Climate Change","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ywHiuC83/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-05-09T17:46:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3894137/antarctica-glaciers-melting/","duration":"PT48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3894137/antarctica-glaciers-melting/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```