Dramatic and extreme changes are occurring in the Antarctic faster than expected, with consequences that will affect us all, from collapsing ice shelves, record low sea ice to powerful storms, the threats to the ecosystem in Antarctica is now reaching dangerous tipping points. READ & WATCH: Changes in Antarctica Are a Stark Warning to the World TRANSCRIPT:
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Rapid changes in the Antarctic are a stark warning to the world. Hello friends, Jim here. article published in the journal oceanographic and let's see what's going on.
From collapsing ice shelves and record low sea ice to threats to fragile ecosystems, researchers warn that Antarctica is now reaching dangerous tipping points that could accelerate global heating and raise sea levels worldwide. So there was a recent meeting at the Royal Society in London and basically these scientists issued a stark warning to the rest of the world that dramatic and extreme changes are occurring in the Antarctic faster than expected, like we've never heard that before, with consequences that will affect us all from collapsing ice shelves, record low sea ice, right, powerful storms, the threats to the ecosystem.
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Researchers warned that Antarctica, often seen as remote and untouched, is now reaching dangerous tipping points that it could accelerate global heating, raise sea levels, and disrupt weather patterns worldwide. The risks posed by the rapid changes across the polar region are no longer distant or theoretical. Right? You've heard me say, what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. Well, what happens in Antarctica does not stay in Antarctica, right?
Basically, what happens in the polar regions, do not stay in the polar regions, they are going to affect the rest of the planet. So scientists have stressed this and they're outlining that extreme events are already becoming more frequent and severe with the possibility of crossing irreversible tipping points growing by the day.
Antarctica is changing faster than we ever imagined said professor Michael Meredith from the UK National Climate Science Partnership and an oceanograph oceanographer at the British Antarctic Survey BAS. They do a lot of work down there. A lot of excellent work down there.
These changes are already affecting communities and ecosystems worldwide. Urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen resilience is essential if we are to avoid crossing dangerous thresholds. So the BAS director, Professor Dame Jane Francis will open the proceeding that just took place by reminding attendees that what happens in Antarctica affects us all. This includes issues of extreme weather, ecosystem loss, rising sea levels.
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The southern ocean surrounding Antarctica absorbs most of the excess heat caused by greenhouse gas emissions. depends how you define most. I mean we get excess heat absorbed in the North Pacific, the North Atlantic, it gets absorbed everywhere. So we need to quantify this. This is already fueling more powerful storms, heat waves and rainfall globally that disrupt lives beyond the polar regions. Right?
Because what are cyclones? Basically heat distribution mechanisms for the planet.
Warmer waters can fuel more powerful storms. Warmer waters and warmer air that goes with it can hold more moisture leading to more precipitation. And you can- hotter air temperatures, right? You get the heat waves, but we're also getting marine heat waves.
Meanwhile, crucial species such as krill, which is the hub of the Antarctic food chain, baling whales feed on them. Deep sea corals, sponge habitats are under threat. These ecosystems support fisheries, biodiversity, even regulate the planet's carbon balance.
The biological palm, marine snow sinking, but you sequester carbon and then you have your upwelling, right? Scientists have warned that if Antarctica ice sheets pass key thresholds, sea levels could rise by more than 10 meters over the coming centuries, threatening coastal cities, communities, infrastructure across the globe, including the UK.
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What's more, evidence from the past shows that change originating in the Antarctic has the potential to spread rapidly, sometimes within decades, with potentially devastating consequences globally. So, this Royal Society meeting called global impacts of climate extremes in the polar regions. Is Antarctica reaching a tipping point? That's the focus of this meeting. And at this meeting, they'll discuss how stronger links are needed between Antarctic science and global policy so governments can better prepare for the risk. Good luck. And then presumably protect future generations and help us all adapt to our challenging changing world. Thermal inertia. Anyone?
We urgently need to understand these unprecedented extreme events in Antarctica if we if we're going to make robust predictions of future change, said Kate Hendry, an oceanographer with BAS team. The process behind these extreme events and any tipping points are not incorporated well into computer models at the moment.
So, our forecasting ability is not good enough. Okay. It's good to acknowledge where the deficiencies in knowledge are present so that you can then address them.
This summer, ancient ice extracted from Antarctica arrived at the BAS in Cambridge for detailed analysis. basically made ice cores and then you then you take slices and you do all sorts of isotope fractionation measurements and and then you can look at the planktonic life that may be trapped in the ice cores and so forth.
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So retrieved from depths of up to 2,800 meters at Little Dome Sea in East Antarctica, the core is expected to reveal a climate and atmospheric record that goes back more than 1.6 million years. That's good. Over the next few years, these samples will be meticulously analyzed at labs across Europe, including at the BAS to unlock secrets about Earth's climate evolution, greenhouse gas concentrations.
Dr. Dr. Liz Thomas, who's head of the ice scores team at BAS, says that our data will yield the first continuous reconstruction of key environmental indicators including atmospheric temperatures, wind patterns, sea ice extent, marine productivity over these past 1.5 million years. It will provide vital insights into the link between atmospheric CO2 levels and climate during a previously uncharted period in Earth's history, offering valuable context for predicting future changes. Okay. But we're all watching in real time ice sheets melting, ice sheets calving, big chunks of ice working their way up towards the equator where they melt and add to the sea level rise. We're already seeing that
We're seeing some indications of primary productivity declining in the southern ocean, which means krill productivity is declining, which of course, like everything else, impacts the rest of the food chain, impacts the baling whales, impacts the seals, the orcas, the penguins because if there's less secondary productivity, for example, because of decreased increase primary productivity. Well, there's not going to be kess plankton for the little fish to feed on and then there will there will be less or be fewer little fish that feeds the next size up fish and so forth.
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The polar regions are a bellweather harbinger of what's going to come. Right? We see similar things in the Arctica region, right? With of course the difference is that Antarctica is a land mass surrounded by ocean where the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land masses. But we're seeing methane issues, both terrestrial and oceanic sources. We're seeing a decline of the sea ice. We're seeing changes in precipitation patterns, right?
It's really warming up there and that's spilling out to the rest of the planet to lower latitudes. We see similar things in Antarctica. So, we'll see what comes out of this, what they issue report and what these core it will take several years before we know, but we'll see what the core samples reveal. So, kind of an update on what's what's happening and well, we'll talk
END OF TRANSCRIPT
[KE: Everything climate scientists predicted about global warming/ climate change since the 1970s is coming true, only faster]
Part two
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