A new Australian-led study has found changes in Antarctica’s climate – including the loss of sea ice and species – will continue to "worsen with every fraction of a degree of global warming.”
Researchers say changes to Antarctica’s environment will form “climate ripple effects,” impacting global sea levels.
Background
Greenhouse gas emissions are released when fossil fuels like coal, gas and oil are burned, and from agriculture.
A study led by ANU researchers has found Increases in these emissions have contributed to “large and abrupt changes” in Antarctica’s ocean and ecosystems.
While most countries have signed the Paris Agreement, a commitment to stop global average temperatures from warming more than 1.5°C above 18th century levels, lead researcher Dr Nerilie Abram said “existing efforts alone… won’t be enough to protect ecosystems.”
Damage
Antarctica is losing its sea ice, which floats on the ocean, regulating its temperature.
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your details:
It also puts emperor penguins at risk of becoming extinct, because they breed their chicks on sea ice.
The team of scientists said they had already seen the “loss of entire colonies of chicks.”
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet,a large area of ice covering the region, is also at risk of collapsing. If this happens, it would make sea levels rise by three metres and “threaten the world’s coastal cities and communities.”
Researchers said ice shelves (slabs of ice attached to land) and ice sheets (large flat surfaces of ice above the ocean) will be destroyed if temperatures continue to rise. This would also raise sea levels and impact species’ habitats.
Australia
The researchers warned changes to Antarctica’s ecosystem could have “severe” impacts on Australia’s climate.
Co-lead researcher, UNSW Professor Matthew England, said climate impacts will create “a warmer and deoxygenated Southern Ocean” that is “less able to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere”.
This means Australia could be subject to “intense warming”.
