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A shocking event occurred in Antarctica, leading to claims of an impending disaster for the Earth’s ecosystem.
Scientists at the Concordia Station in Antarctica were stunned to confirm on March 18, 2022, that the Antarctic temperature was 38.6 degrees Celsius (101.48°F) higher than the seasonal average, as reported by The Guardian on April 6 (local time).
According to The Guardian, glaciologist Professor Martin Siegert of Exeter University said, “Nobody in our community expected this to happen. This is very unusual and a real concern,” adding, “We are dealing with a completely unprecedented event.”
Professor Michael Meredith, who leads the British Antarctic Survey, also stated, “If the temperature was below zero, we could withstand such a tremendous surge, but if it rose by 40 degrees in the UK, the spring temperature would exceed 50 degrees (122°F), which would be lethal to people.”
While scientists have pointed to the warm, humid air blowing from low-latitude areas, including Australia, penetrating deep into the Antarctic continent as the cause of the ‘heatwave’ that hit Concordia, they have yet to explain why this is happening.
Over the past two years, scientists have become aware of increased reports of unstable weather anomalies on the Antarctic continent. The volume of glaciers around the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is decreasing at an accelerating rate, and the amount of sea ice floating around the continent, which has been stable for over a century, is rapidly declining.
Concerns about Antarctic climate change are also highlighted in a recent paper published in the Journal of Climate by a research team from the University of Tasmania in Australia. The team revealed that sudden and significant transitions are occurring in the Antarctic climate, which could impact the Antarctic ecosystem and the Earth’s climate system.
Professor Siegert stated that if Antarctica follows the example of the Arctic, which has been hardest hit by global warming, “The Arctic is warming at a rate four times faster than the rest of the Earth, and Antarctica is warming twice as fast.”
This unprecedented rise in temperature appears to be due to global warming. Humans are emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the Antarctic climate is collapsing.
The melting of sea ice in the polar regions is primarily caused by global warming, which is accelerated by the warming of the Earth’s oceans due to burning fossil fuels. The sea under the ice is exposed, and the sun’s radiation is no longer reflected in space, causing the sea to heat up further.
One scientist said, “The fundamental cause is the continuous combustion of fossil fuels by humans and the emission of greenhouse gases, but essentially, it is a vicious cycle of a warming ocean and melting sea ice,” adding, “All these problems are our responsibility.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels could rise between 0.3 and 1.1 meters (0.98 and 3.61 feet) by the end of this century. Still, many experts argue that the risk has been underestimated.
The rapidly changing Antarctic ecosystem is accelerating global warming. The population of krill, a staple food for fish, penguins, seals, and whales and the basis of the Antarctic food chain, is decreasing as plants in the Antarctic Sea disappear. If krill become extinct, the Antarctic ecosystem could collapse, and global warming could accelerate. This is because birds absorb carbon dioxide, krill eat the birds and excrete it, and when the excrement sinks to the sea floor, it has the effect of trapping carbon on the sea floor.
The change in Antarctica’s condition is ongoing. The number of emperor penguins who have to spend time on sea ice until they grow feathers is decreasing because the sea ice collapses before the feathers grow.
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