Antarctica: “steep” changes in progress, alert researchers

“Antarctica shows worrying signs of change from the point of view of ice, ocean and ecosystems. However, Some of these steep changes will be difficult to stop. Consequently, have effects for future generations,” summarizes for AFP Nerilie Abram, researcher at the Australian National University and the main author of the antarctica: “steep” changes progress, alert study.

Scientists alert for years on the risks posed by climate change of human origin for Antarctica. on the potentially catastrophic consequences for the future, such as the rise in the level of the oceans caused by the melting of ice.

But the study also shows how these changes are “interconnected” between them. can also worsen climate change, underlines Nerilie Abram.

The decline in the ice floe reduces its ability to reflect solar energy (Albedo effect), thus exacerbating warming. The British Polar Research Institute (Low) also showed. in a study published in June, that the Emperor Penguin colonies decline faster than expected due to the decline in this ice floe.

The slowdown in the antarctic ocean current. the melting of the ice caps also strengthen each other, a vicious circle that scientists describe as a feedback loop. These phenomena in turn encourage antarctica: “steep” changes progress, alert global warming or the rise in long -term ocean level.

The West Antarctic Glacial Cuff has already been identified by scientists as exposed to the risk of. an irreversible tilting due to the rise in temperatures. Unlike sea ice floe. its cast iron increases the levels of the oceans, a phenomenon likely to spread over centuries and which will continue even if the climate stabilizes.

This antarctic area contains enough frozen water to raise the level of the planet’s oceans by about six meters. Half of this mass, equivalent to about 3 meters, would be at risk of an upcoming irreversible collapse.

In conclusion. the authors believe that “the only certain way of reducing the risk of steep changes in the antarcotic environment is to make rapid and deep reductions of CO2 emissions during this decade” and to limit warming as close as possible antarctica: “steep” changes progress, alert to 1.5 ° C, the most ambitious limit of the Paris Agreement.