Climate Crisis: Rapid Ice Melt in Antarctica Unavoidable
The climate crisis is propelling sea level elevation along with the expansion of seawater due to rising temperatures.
In the paper titled “Unavoidable future increase in West Antarctic ice-shelf melting over the twenty-first century”, analysis shows that Ocean-driven melting of floating ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea is currently the main process controlling Antarctica’s contribution to sea-level rise. The Amundsen Sea is located in the Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica. It is situated along the coast of Antarctica’s western portion, and it is part of the larger Antarctic region.
The analysis shows that continued trends in ice-shelf melting have the potential to cause irreversible retreat of the West Antarctic ice shelf glaciers which together contain enough ice to raise global mean sea-level by 5.3 m. A global mean sea level rise of 5.3 meters (approximately 17.4 feet) would have significant and far-reaching consequences for coastal areas and ecosystems around the world. Cities like Miami, New York, Bangkok, Mumbai, and many other coastal areas would be highly impacted by such a rise. The analysis was made with a single model i.e. taking only the worst-case scenario of extreme fossil fuel use into consideration so it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The paper also emphasizes that Regardless of the existence or magnitude of historical trends, if the Amundsen Sea experiences further warming over the twenty-first century, the outlook for the West Antarctic ice shelf will only become more grave.
A wake up call
The melting of West Antarctic ice shelves is one of the unmistakable consequences of climate change. It appears from how things are moving rapidly, we may need to adapt to this situation. Even if the situation looks dire we shouldn’t lose hope in reducing our fossil fuel emissions. Each and everyone has a moral obligation and responsibility to address climate change. You can also explore my other article on how to address the climate emergency through systemic change and individual action. One thing we must understand is that we may not excel at mitigating risks but we do possess the ability to adapt to change. This adaptive capacity has been a key factor in our survival throughout history, and it will continue to be our strength in the future.
