Antarctica is the Earth’s southernmost continent, it is responsible for the frigid temperatures that have a cooling effect on our atmosphere. The centrally located tropical waters derive their source of heat from the sun; together these two bodies of water combine to regulate our ecosystem. Quite alarming, this delicate temperature balance is at stake due to interference from humankind
The global mean surface temperature is projected to increase by around 0.3 to 4.8 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial values by the end of the 21th century. Therefore, if we continue to not check the anthropogenic emissions, the increase may be around 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, which is incredibly damaging to various ecosystems internationally. It is difficult to determine the possible aftereffects of the ice sheets melting because the equilibrium-response timescales of them is longer than both the atmosphere and ocean. The ice-sheet/ice-shelf model shows that if the atmospheric warming increases 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius above the present temperatures, the Antarctic ice shelves will collapse and trigger a centennial scale response –a never-ending
The study noted that while Antarctica has already begun to melt, the ice sheet’s future mass balance is unknown due to a combination of factors: future emissions of greenhouse gases; atmospheric warming; and oceanic warming that results from atmospheric warming.
Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and most inhospitable continent on Earth. Yet it is yields some 90 percent of the Earth most precious natural resource: water. But behind this pristine exterior, Antarctica is fighting a losing battle. New data suggests that the continent as a whole is warming at an alarming rate. According to recent studies gathered from Nature Magazine, the western half of the continent is warming five times faster than any other place
Global warmth starts with sunlight. The earth tries to absorb the largest amount of sunshine. “Temperatures are certain to go up further. But why should we worry about a seemingly small increase in temperature? It turns out that the global average temperature is quite stable over long periods of time, and small changes in that temperature correspond to enormous changes in the environment” (Riebeek. 2). This phenomenon has led to an unprecedented rise in
Scientists have given numerous warnings that human-caused, or anthropogenic, climate change is not only occurring now, but accelerating more quickly than predicted (Maibach, Myers, and Leiserowitz 295). Global warming contributes to climate change as a result of the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (“Global Warming”). The level of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere has increased significantly over the years. Patterns of warming are sufficient to conclude that this increase has coincided with the start of the Industrial Revolution (“Global Warming”). By analyzing carbon dioxide pockets that have been trapped in Antarctic ice, scientists can assuredly confirm the correlation between recent warming
Above discussed are the ways by which we can save and protect ecosystem of Antarctica. Pollution is not only affecting the Antarctica but it's affecting the humankind too and causing severe damage to
Antarctica is essential for science because of its enormous effect on the Earth's climate and ocean systems. The Antarctic is critical our understanding of global climate change. Preserved in its four kilometre-thick ice sheet is a unique record of the
Over 35 years ago, climatologist Wally Broecker coined the term global warming in a paper outlining the trends that he was noticing with temperature and C02 levels (Stefan). Ever since then, the debate has heated up on the controversy of global warming. Politicians have even used the issue to boost their campaigns. Some question whether the earth’s temperature is rising at an unusual rate. Scientists perform experiments from glacial ice to observe the correlation between carbon dioxide levels and temperature. Scientists have changed the debate over the years from debating whether global warming was actually happening to the current debate about what is causing global warming. Therefore, the term global warming in this paper refers to
The convention applies to the area south of sixty degrees. Antarctica is an exceptional, remote continent surrounded by a wide, cold and stormy ocean. To some Antarctica is simply a cold, distant uninviting and dangerous place with little to offer the world. Antarctica is the last and largest unspoiled wilderness area on Earth. It is a reminder of what the planet was like before the influence of man. Its unspoiled beauty has inspired people, since first glimpse, to explore and discover the vast desert like continent. Antarctic has stretches of the most pristine oceans on earth with an enormous variety and quantity of marine life, much of which is only found in Antarctica. Antarctica is a continent for science, as it is so unspoiled it acts as a laboratory for the rest of the world where changes can be measured in isolation from the effects of
This is important because there have been some volcanoes found under some ice sheets located in Antarctica and if they erupt it will change the climate even more than global warming is. It is also important because it could solve the issue of where we can put all 284 tons of trash we throw out each year. Volcanoes are also powerful enough to cause earthquakes landslides flooding destroying many things in its path. We should protect ourselves by evacuating the moment you here of one and help people who have lost their home a place to stay.
Where do Antarctica animals live? Seal lovers have given Antarctica the seal of approval because six species of seals live in the waters and on the frozen continent. The fiercest are leopard seals, which eat seafood but sometimes prefer to eat penguins and other seals. The biggest seals are bull southern elephant seals, which can grow up to 20 feet long. When challnging other males, the bulls inflate their large noses to make their bellows louder and scarier. Elephant seals, going almost 5,000 feet deep and staying under for as long as two hours. Many whales make their summer home in the waters of the southern ocean. Blue whales are not only the largest of the baleen whales but also
An albedo is light that is reflected by a surface, in this case, the Earth’s. The higher the albedo, the more sunlight is reflected and the less sunlight is absorbed. An albedo is caused by the unequal heating of the Earth's’ surface. An example of this is Antarctica. There, the average temperature in the winter can get down to -48°C. The extremely low temperature is due to the white snow and ice, which reflect the light back into the atmosphere and keep Antarctica cool. Albedo varies from differing surfaces, which means those surfaces have varying temperatures. Different albedos on different surfaces can be based on multiple factors, including the color, location, and material of the surface. A surface that is lighter in color will have a
In antarctica it’s the coldest and windiest continent on Earth making it extremely easy to get frostbite a horrible and painful condition. Frostnip is the first step of frostbite where the tissues begin to cool without any cellular destruction. The area affected may change color usually a pasty white. Once the wind chill makes the temperature feel like -24 or colder, skin exposed can freeze in less than 30 minutes. To avoid frostbite don’t have any skin exposed or wet clothing on, it will just make the tissues in your body freeze faster . The expedition Shackleton and his crew took on when their ship sank they were outside,under a boat or in a tent . They didn’t have enough blankets or dry clothing for everyone making the risk of frostbite
My world problem is climate changes effect on Antarctica. The cause of this world wide issue is an excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide enters our atmosphere through burning fossil fuels. Carbon Dioxide levels have risen just nineteen percent since 1987-337 parts per million then to just over 400 parts per million now (Atkin). Ozone depletion high above Antarctica is due to chlorofluorocarbons and other greenhouse gases (Atkin). High carbon dioxide levels in earth’s atmosphere
Heat is building up in these regions due to the deterioration of a convection cell in the Weddell sea. The temperature difference between Antarctica and the Tropical ocean regions has caused an raise of winds around antarctica and an expansion of the subtropical belt. This has also intensified the tropical convection. Combined these factors have also worked together to boost the water cycle, intensify high pressure spaces in the subtropic, and strengthen trade winds.