One geosciences professor is warning that, if planetary overheating continues at its current rate, the melting of the Antarctic glaciers alone could raise sea levels in North America by 10 feet by 2150.
What's happening?
Colorado State University geosciences professor Rick Aster published his findings in the journal Science Advances, as reported by The Colorado Sun.
Aster and his colleagues found that the melting of Antarctic glaciers is happening in a "feedback loop," overflowing the continental rock bowl that contains the glacier, which in turn lets in more seawater that makes the ice melt even faster.
The Sun summarized the findings well on what happens when the snowcap melts: "The rock pushes up under the reduced pressure and slows the loss of ice to the sea. The team found that parts of the bedrock in West Antarctica, the area below South America, are rising at about 2 inches a year as it sheds ice, among the fastest rates on earth. ... As the seas rise and threaten coastlines, the coastline itself rising up could [be good]? Correct, Aster says, but only if the melt is held to a low or moderate level. At the current glacier-gushing rates, the 'float' of continental rock can't keep up with the fast rise of sea water."
And that inability to keep up could mean ocean levels at both low and high tides could rise in other parts of the world.
"It's happening so rapidly that we can see these large effects even in a human lifetime," Aster said. "And that is something that the Earth has not seen before, as far as we know. So that's the most stunning thing to me."
Previous research found a similar phenomenon occurring under one of Greenland's glaciers, indicating that the ice melt could occur at a much faster pace than previously anticipated.
Why are melting glaciers important?
As the glaciers continue to melt, sea levels will continue to rise — and as that happens, coastal communities will begin to disappear underwater. This could happen relatively slowly, or it could pick up steam very quickly, as the research into glacier behavior indicates it may.
With sea levels rising by 10 feet, cities such as New York, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Miami could end up underwater, while countries that exist just above sea level, such as the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, could disappear entirely.
Killing off glaciers also directly, and massively, harms the ecosystems around them, leading to erosion and widespread landscape changes.
What's being done about the melting of glaciers?
The overheating of our planet is largely being caused by our continued reliance on dirty energy sources such as gas and oil. In order to slow the effects of the air pollution created by these energy sources, it is vital that we immediately switch to clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar.
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