It's at the heart of Antarctica and on the verge of collapse. Subscribe and turn on notifications 🔔 so you don't miss any videos: http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Man-made climate change is warming the planet's atmosphere and oceans, and the effects are being felt the most at the poles. In Antarctica, home to the largest chunk of ice on earth, ice shelves and glaciers are beginning to collapse, and one in particular could spell disaster. The Thwaites Glacier, in West Antarctica, has retreated more than 14 kilometers in the last two decades as warm ocean water undermines it. The glacier is situated on a downward slope that falls deep into the center of Antarctica. It's why scientists are racing to find out how close it is to total collapse - and what that would mean for future sea levels. Further Reading: The Doomsday Glacier, Rolling Stone Magazine: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/the-doomsday-glacier-113792/ The Race to Understand Antarctica's Most Terrifying Glacier, Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/antarctica-thwaites-glacier-breaking-point/ Into the Thaw, PRI https://www.pri.org/categories/thaw-decoding-thwaites-glacier International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration: https://thwaitesglacier.org/ Dustin Schroeder, Stanford University: https://earth.stanford.edu/people/dustin-schroeder Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Penn State University https://www.geosc.psu.edu/academic-faculty/anandakrishnan-sridhar Vox Atlas demonstrates where conflicts occur on a map and the ways in which foreign policy shapes a region. Watch all the episodes here: http://bit.ly/2SThVsf Make sure you never miss behind-the-scenes content in the Vox Video newsletter. Sign up here: http://vox.com/video-newsletter Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com/ Support Vox's reporting with a one-time or recurring contribution: http://vox.com/contribute-now Shop the Vox merch store: http://vox.com/store Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://facebook.com/vox Follow Vox on Twitter: http://twitter.com/voxdotcom Follow Vox on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@voxdotcom