Researchers warn that glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula have high chances to disappear in about 200 years' time

Sep 15, 2014 07:57 GMT  ·  By

Glaciers in Antarctica are now melting at a fast pace, and some have high chances to disappear altogether in about 200 years' time, researchers write in a recent paper in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Evidence at hand indicates that these glaciers are melting due to an increase in local temperatures. Seeing how the resulting water eventually works its way into the nearby ocean, the phenomenon is causing sea level rise.

How global warming is reshaping Antarctica

Specialist Bethan Davies with the Royal Holloway, University of London, and colleagues explain that, looking to determine how global warming is reshaping Antarctica, they analyzed and mapped changes to small glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula.

Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, the researchers detail that, according to their investigations into the matter at hand, the increase in local temperatures in Antarctica means that this part of the world is now receiving more snowfall. This is because warm air is moister than cold one.

However, this increase in snowfall is by no means helping local glaciers keep their plump figure. On the contrary, it appears that temperatures in the region have increased to such an extent that, regardless of how much snowfall the area receives on a regular basis, glaciers are still shrinking.

Thus, a glacier in the proximity of Antarctica's James Ross Island is now melting way faster than ever before, and stands to become smaller than it has ever been in millennia of existence in about 200 years. Global warming and climate change are to blame for this unprecedented glacier recession.

“We found that this glacier remained roughly the same size for thousands of years until it started to grow again 1,500 years ago. However, it is now melting faster than anything seen before, and over the next 200 years will become far smaller than at any point over the last 10,000 years,” says Professor Neil Glasser.

“This glacier, though small, is typical of many of the small glaciers that end on land around the Antarctic Peninsula,” adds Researcher Dr. Nicholas Golledge with the Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand, as cited by the Alpha Galileo Foundation.

The importance of this study

In their paper in the journal Nature Climate Change, the specialists behind this research project argue that, as shown by previous investigations, glaciers in Antarctica are major contributors to sea level rise. What they mean is that, the more such massive blocks of ice melt, the higher the global sea level will get.

Having our planet's seas and ocean accommodate for more water might not seem like such a big problem, but the truth is that with sea level rise comes coastlines erosion. Simply put, folks living close to beaches all around the world are likely to wake up and find that they must either move or sell their cars and buy boats instead.

“Our findings demonstrate that the melting will increase greatly even with a slight rise in temperature, offsetting any benefits from increased snowfall,” says Dr. Bethan Davies. Furthermore, “These small glaciers around the edge of the Antarctic Peninsula are likely to contribute most to rising sea levels over the coming decades, because they can respond quickly to climate change.”