Setting Foot on the Melting Thwaites Glacier

Bad weather ​delayed expedition scientists’​ ​efforts to set up camp on Thwaites Glacier ​in Antarctica ​and take measurements ​to determine how quickly it is melting. After the skies cleared, our journalists​, Raymond Zhong and Chang W. Lee​, took us along for their first steps on Thwaites.

By Raymond Zhong, Chang W. Lee, Christina Thornell, Jon Miller and Stephanie Swart

January 23, 2026