West Antarctic ice sheet will continue to melt, and reducing emissions will not help – study
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The West Antarctic Ice Sheet will continue to melt no matter how much the world cuts emissions that are causing the planet to heat up.
This is stated in a study by the British Antarctic Service, Reuters reports.
Scientists predict a further rise in sea level in the coming decades. The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that regardless of the degree of warming this century, the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet will accelerate. The reason for this is that warmer water in the Amundsen Sea erodes the ice shelves bordering the ocean.
Ice shelves support the ice, acting like a cork in a bottle that stops it flowing into the ocean.
| Photo: GettyImages |
Even under a best-case scenario of 1.5℃ warming from pre-industrial levels, scientists predict that ice will melt three times faster this century than in the past.
“Reducing emissions can help prevent the worst-case melting scenario, but it will have little impact. It looks like we’ve lost control.” said the lead author of the study, Caitlin Noten.
The collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of nine global climate “tipping points” that scientists identified in 2009.
Crossing these ecological red lines will be catastrophic for life on Earth.
An international team of scientists has said that in 2022 we will likely have passed the point of no return, at least for the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
If the ice sheet completely melts, the average global sea level will rise by more than a meter.
It will be recalled that thousands of emperor penguin chicks died in Antarctica as a result of global warming.
Read also: UK scientists suggest feeding daffodils to cows to slow global warming
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