The west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming parts of our planet. This is a serious matter. Melting ice raises sea water levels. Moreover, there is less ice to reflect the heat of the sun. The Antarctic could turn out the worst of all the climate change extremes.
Climate Change Extremes: Three Trillion Tons of Ice Lost
Antarctica shed 3 trillion tons of ice between 1992 and 2017 according to NASA. While this increased sea levels by just a third of an inch, the thinner remainder may melt incrementally faster. What will Antarctica look like in seventy years’ time, and how will this affect the rest of our planet?
The answer depends on how we manage our habitat. Will we continue abusing our global homeland, and increasing these climate change extremes? Or will sanity prevail before global heating spins out of control,. If we melt all the ice, it could take centuries to return, even if the next generation did the right thing. By then, New York and London would be utterly destroyed by rising water, and all their culture and history lost.
Little Time Left Over to Prevent These Global Consequences
Cosmos Magazine warns that global greenhouse emissions could result in climate change extremes of unimaginable consequences. A dramatic loss of Antarctic ice shelves could cause a radical sea level rise. This could lead to rates of change unseen for the last 10,000 years.
However this only happens if global warming remains unchecked. And it probably will remain that way because the carbon major polluters are not immediately affected. These are the stakeholders in major fossil and cement industries, responsible for 75% of global carbon since 1750.
There is another scenario of course. There always is no matter how improbable. Global powers could take ambitious actions to reverse warming. This seems unlikely in the light of the upsurge of nationalism. If only self-seekers understood how the green movement could benefit their supporters. We are deeply concerned over the future of our planet.
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Preview Image: Antarctic Peninsula (Rotated to Left)
