Research, Technology

The ice shelves of Antarctica are under threat - what is happening to them now?

Melting glaciers in Antarctica - everyone knowsfact, and an excellent marker of climate change on the planet. We regularly hear that the amount of ice on the continent is decreasing, often large parts of ice shelves break off and go free floating. But even now the process of melting glaciers is still quite slow. If it continues at the current pace, it will stretch for many centuries. However, scientists fear that the melting may accelerate, resulting in catastrophes in the near future. Unfortunately, there are plenty of reasons for concern. For example, the sea ice belt around Antarctica hit an all-time low this year. As a result, ice shelves come into contact with water heated to a relatively high temperature.

Scientists have discovered a new threat to the ice shelves of Antarctica

The area of ​​ice around Antarctica is shrinking

Previous anti-record for sea ice extentaround Antarctica was delivered in February 2022. Then this figure for the first time fell below 2 million square kilometers. Last year was the fifth or sixth warmest year on record, according to official figures, despite the La Niña current having a cooling effect on the weather.

National Snow and Ice Data Centerin the United States of America said that the area of ​​sea ice in Antarctica this year has decreased to 1.91 million square kilometers. This is the lowest number in the history of observations, which began in 1979. But, the most unpleasant thing is that there are still a few weeks left before the ice melting season in Antarctica. In other words, the ice area will shrink even more, as reported by NSIDC. Moreover, sea ice has become less than last season, since mid-December 2022.

The area of ​​ice around Antarctica has been greatly reduced

What is the danger of melting sea ice around Antarctica?

What is the danger of melting ice around Antarctica?By itself, this process does not carry any danger, since it does not affect the water level in the ocean. These ices are already in the water. However, this ice protects ice shelves from destruction. It serves as a kind of buffer for glaciers. Accordingly, its disappearance will significantly accelerate the process of melting ice shelves, that is, glaciers that are on the mainland and are able to raise the water level.

In addition, sea ice reflects up to 90% of the sunenergy. When it melts, it is replaced by a dark sea that absorbs almost all of the sun's energy. As a result, a chain reaction occurs - the sea heats up faster, the ice begins to melt even faster, and all this leads to the rapid destruction of ice shelves and the increase in the water of the world's oceans.

Ice shelves are affected by sea waves and warm water, which leads to their rapid destruction.

What is happening to the glaciers in Antarctica now?

According to NSIDC, already now most of theThe Antarctic coast is in contact with water, that is, ice shelves are destroyed by waves and warm water. According to experts, sea ice is heterogeneous or almost completely absent on the entire stretch of the coastline of Antarctica facing the Pacific Ocean.

It must be said that due to the strong seasonaltemperature fluctuations and the presence of ice around the mainland, the glaciers in Antarctica have been melting slowly over the past four decades compared to the glaciers in Greenland, which are literally disappearing before our eyes.

However, according to experts, the situation has changedstarting in 2016 - since then, the rate of melting has increased significantly. Now, this trend may take hold. Therefore, at the moment, scientists are trying to find out what is the reason for the disappearance of sea ice in recent years and what consequences it can lead to in the near future.

Graph of the decrease in the area of ​​ice around Antarctica

Finally, we note that scientists receive othernegative signals about the state of affairs in Antarctica. We previously reported that in March 2022, a large ice shelf, the size of New York, broke off. It would seem that there is nothing unusual in this, but it was a glacier located in the eastern part of the mainland. Previously, glaciers of this size have never collapsed here. Moreover, this glacier disappeared in just a few days. According to scientists, for humanity, it has become another harbinger of truly dangerous events.

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It must be said that in the last few yearsIn Antarctica, in general, large glaciers often began to break off. At some point, this can provoke a “domino effect”, that is, a rapid slide into the ocean of glaciers located inside the mainland. As a result, serious disasters may begin to occur much earlier than scientists predict.