Scientists have unveiled a chilling worst-case scenario prediction setting out the “disastrous consequences” of a dramatic rise in temperatures inAntarctica. Professor Bethan Davies, a glaciologist at Newcastle University, and her colleagues modelled a range of scenarios for the Antarctic Peninsula, which is the northernmost part of the continent, extending 800 miles towards South America.
Prof Davies said: “The Antarctic Peninsula is a special place. Its future depends on the choices that we make today. Under a low emissions future, we can avoid the most important and detrimental impacts. However, under a higher emissions scenario, we risk the loss of sea ice, ice shelves, glaciers, and iconic species such as penguins.
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“Though Antarctica is far away, changes here will impact the rest of the world through changes in sea level, oceanic and atmospheric connections and circulation changes.”
She added: “Changes in the Antarctic do not stay in the Antarctic.”
Prof Davies and her co-authors modelled possible outcomes for the peninsula based on low emissions (1.8°C temperature rise compared to preindustrial levels by 2100), medium-high emissions (3.6°C), and very high emissions (4.4°C).
Writing in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, they described how a higher emissions scenario would lead to faster warming of the Southern Ocean, eroding ice on land at sea.
They estimated that sea ice coverage could fall by 20%, devastating species such as krill, which are an important prey for whales and penguins.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
