8 August 2023 – Scientists have warned that extreme weather could stop Antarctica from cooling down the earth and instead contributing to global warming.
A group of scientists has carried out a review into the extreme events taking place in Antarctica, commissioned by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
The review confirmed that extreme events, such as the breaking off of huge icebergs, are becoming more frequent. This has worried the scientists, because what happens on this continent has a huge impact on the global climate.
They have warned that rather than being the planets fridge, helping to cool it down, it could turn into a radiator instead, warming up our earth.
Heatwave One Of The Main Concerns
The scientists who undertook the review were particularly concerned about three extreme events. One of those was a heatwave that struck East Antarctica in March 2022.
The surface temperatures recorded were a staggering 38.5°C hotter than normal for this time of the year. Instead of around -50°C, only -10°C was measured.
This sharp increase could have started to melt the surface of the ice sheets, if it had happened during summer, which is something that has never been seen before.
Not only were the temperatures recorded in Mach last year a new record, they were by far hotter than the previous record.
Another area of concern is the reduction of sea ice cover. Scientists said that since about 2016, record lows of sea ice cover has been recorded three times.
Even the years that haven’t been record-breaking have been unusual based on what we have learned to expect based on previous decades.
Dr Caroline Holmes, Polar Climate Scientist at British Antarctic Survey
But in 2023, the sea ice cover has been lower still, setting a new record low, which is a big concern for the scientists.
The third big concern for the researchers is the dramatic collapse of the ice shelf. These are parts of the glacier or ice sheets that float in water around Antarctica.
The team of scientists have warned that the ice shelves Larsen A and B on the Antarctic Peninsula and the Conger Ice Shelf in East Antarctica have collapsed a lot.
The melting of the ice sheets is a huge concern for the scientists because it can have such global consquences.
What Happens In Antarctica Impacts The Whole World
While the Antarctic continent seems far away from our lives, what happens there, impacts on the whole planet. The ice sheets reflect the heat of the sun back into the atmosphere, helping to cool down the earth.
If the ice floats that on the sea melts, it can no longer reflect the heat and light from the sun. The dark sea surface that lies beneath will absorb the heat and warm up. As a result, the surface temperature of the earth will also increase, contributing to global warming.
But melting ice from Antarctica doesn’t just impact on the climate, it also raises sea levels. This will impact on coastal areas around the world, causing coastal flooding erosion and storm surges.
Since the 1990s, global sea levels have been rising by 1.8cm due to ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melting. Several coastal communities in the UK have seen the impact of rising sea levels.
Scientists have calculated that if the ice continues to melt at the same rate, sea levels will rise by 17cm by the end of the century. This will impact 16 million more people who live in coastal areas as it exposes them to annual coastal flooding.
It is not possible to definitely say that these extreme events in Antarctica are linked to human-induced climate change, due to its harsh environment and remote location, which means less data is available.
But most scientists do still think that it is a reasonable assumption to draw a link between human actions and what is happening on the Antarctic continent.
I think it’s reasonable to assume that with the Antarctic heat event that we’ve seen, that is the sort of thing that has been expected with global heating because of burning fossil fuels and it has happened.
Professor Martin Siegert, Glaciologist at the University of Exeter
While changes have been observed for years, the researchers say that the intensity and frequency of these extreme events are increasing, which is extremely worrying. Especially because of how this influences other areas.
The group of scientists who undertook the review call on the scientific community to take the extreme events in Antarctica more seriously than it does at the moment. Because what happens there has consequences for people, plants and animals worldwide.
Unless the world stops burning fossil fuels and release tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, these extreme events will become more extreme, impacting on the environment and our lives.
