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The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is the largest block of ice in the world, containing enough water to raise global sea level by 193 feet (58 m). The ice sheet contains approximately 6.5 million cubic miles (27 million cubic km) of ice and represents most of the frozen continent. And although the ice sheet is more stable than its neighbors, such as Ross Ice Shelf and Thwaites Ice Shelf, its future looks increasingly uncertain.
In a hot climate, the planet’s polar and glacial regions are facing undue stress and melting.
The melt threatens to substantially raise sea levels, increase coastal flood rates and lead to more extreme weather conditions, affecting ocean circulation.
An international team of scientists led by researchers in Germany has now examined how climate change will impact the world’s largest ice cap.
The study was led by scientists from Heidelberg University’s Institute of Earth Sciences and involved researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK.
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In a study published today (November 23) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, researchers presented worrying data on the future stability of the Antarctic ice shelf.
The data suggests that in the near future, if global warming continues, the East Antarctic ice sheet may be less stable than previously thought.
Dr Kim Jacob of the University of Heidelberg said: “The future melting of the polar ice caps and the consequent rise in global sea level as a result of climate change will have a substantial impact on low-altitude coastal areas.”
Scientists performed a geochemical analysis of the deep-sea sediments of the Atlantic Ocean.
Typically, the growth and loss of polar ice caps is affected by solar radiation and atmospheric CO2.
But the new study found a third factor in the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet: the drop in global sea level caused by the formation of large ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere.
As sea levels dropped, the Antarctic ice sheet was less exposed to warmer ocean waters that could melt parts of the ice sheet.
Professor Paul Wilson of the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Southampton said: “Our data provide an unusually high resolution picture of changes in ocean temperature, ice volume and sea level. sea for an interval in which atmospheric CO2 levels were as durable as they are today.
“We can see that before 2.5 million years ago in our records the peak sea levels were so high that even some of the largest blocks of ice on Earth, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, melted.”
Scientists believe their study highlights the vulnerability of the East Antarctic ice sheet to climate change.
And if global warming is allowed to continue, there is a greater risk of the ice sheet being further destabilized by rising sea levels.
Professor Wilson added: ‘We suspect that the melting took place in areas where the Antarctic ice sheet was in contact with a rising and warming ocean, driven by the retreat of other ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere; a kind of vicious circle. “.
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