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Moreover, the chimneys of the factories all over the world emit various types of gases, which elute the air to a great extent. If the air continues to get polluted at such a fast rate, it will definitely cause a rise in the general temperature throughout the world. This rise in temperature is resulting in the gradual melting of the vast thick ice-sheets in Antarctica. Antarctica holds 90% of the world’s ice and 70% of its freshwater. Its average temperature has increased nearly 5 degrees (F) in the last half century.
Floating ice shelves account for about 1 1 % of the area of the continent, and while the loss of these ice shelves does not increase sea level, they effectively CT as corks to hold back glaciers. Significant melting of Antarctica glaciers which have been moving more rapidly toward the sea could increase sea levels as much as 20 feet worldwide. The Antarctic Peninsula, which juts toward South America and is one of only two masses of land on the continent outside the Antarctic Circle, has been warming markedly.
Vast portions of its Wilkins Ice Shelf disintegrated in 2008 and 2009 after 1 ,500 years of stability. Effects of Global Warming If all the ice in Antarctica melted, it would raise the level of the world’s oceans by over 200 feet (60 meters). The possibility of this happening in the near term is not seriously considered by scientists, for the Antarctic icecap is currently believed to be in equilibrium. However, meteorologists studying the ramifications of global warming and the greenhouse effect expect there to be a decrease in sea levels in the short term a matter of decades of about 2 millimeters per year.
This will be due to an increase in the amount of water vapor in the air as a result of higher air temperatures and will lead to greater snow fall on the continent. Over the longer term higher global air enraptures are expected to generate higher icecap flow rates and more ice-bergs which are expected to raise sea-level by of 3 feet, or about a meter, in the next century. While such a rise does not seem a significant one, its effects could be devastating displacing more than 100 million people in low- lying coastal areas around the world.
Accompanying this rise in sea level would be increased winter temperatures and warmer hot spells, increased rainfall and flooding and overall unpredictable shifting of temperature and rainfall patterns that could wreak havoc with agriculture, natural ecosystems ND other daunting effects. Some facts listed below will help to understand the serious consequence of the global warming in Antarctica. These are: ; Since 1 974 seven gigantic ice shelves have got reduced in area by 1 3,500 square kilometers. Due to severe global warming in Antarctica, the Larsen B ice shelf has lost 3,250 square kilometers into the ocean. ; The global warming has also resulted in increased rainfall in some parts of Antarctica. ; The global warming in Antarctica has also resulted in the death of various animals like the penguins. The effect of global warming is more deeply felt on western part of the Antarctic Peninsula. Several species of insect life indigenous to Antarctica are facing extinction due to the increase of temperature caused by the increasing hole in the ozone layer situated over the continent.
Other species of insect life have evolved a unique means of surviving the deadly increase in ultra-violet rays from the sun. They have developed a hormone that acts as a sunscreen lubricant protecting their bodies. Many varieties of starfish have stopped reproducing and their numbers are exponentially diminishing as they no anger procreate. Their species is expected to face extinction in the coming years due to a two-degree increase in water temperature.
Certain varieties of penguins are exhibiting a disturbing behavior pattern. Groups gather away from their feeding and nesting grounds for a period of time. They then split up and return to their respective areas, except for one. This sole penguin turns and faces the interior on the continent and begins a march that doesn’t end until he dies. There is evidence to suggest that all these catastrophic changes to the wildlife of Antarctica are directly related to the warming temperatures.