Climate change: Antarctica’s glaciers melting, sea levels rising

SEA levels could rise by metres, and the world’s apparently halfway gone. But the good news is that we still have time to save ourselves.

The nine planetary boundaries. Picture: TED.

SEA levels could rise by a staggering 6.8m within a century in a double whammy the world may not have even seen coming.

Humans have destabilised the great ice sheet of West Antarctica to such a level that it will cause

a sea level rise of 3.4m.

However, the worst may be yet to come with predictions that another gigantic glacier in East Antarctica, could result in the same thing happening all over again, according to new research

published in scientific journal Nature Geoscience.

The research, compiled by an international team of scientists representing the United States, Britain, France and Australia, found the Totten Glacier of East Antarctica is thinning faster than

anyone imagined.

The scientists took a number of flights over the glacier and took measurements to try and figure out the reasons behind the ice sheet’s shrinkage and found it was melting quickly due to the warm ocean underneath it.

Scientists say it’s alarming given it holds back a much more vast catchment of ice than that and if it were to melt further could amount to a global sea level rise of 3.35m, meaning Antarctic ice melt alone could increase sea levels by almost 7 metres.

That may not sound like a huge deal to the average Joe, but it is when you consider that Totten Glacier covers an area of 145 by 35 kilometres, which according to the Australian Antarctic Division is like “losing an amount of ice equivalent to 100 times the volume of Sydney Harbour every year”.

aurora australis gets up close to the Totten Glacier in East Antarctica.

And while this doesn’t signify the end of the world, scientists have warned it will have serious repercussions for mankind.

They also warn that underwater cavities and valleys could allow warmer water to get underneath the shelf, accelerating its melting even further.

The stark warning comes after an Earth resilience strategist warned mankind has exceeded four of the nine limits for hospitable life on the planet.

Johan Rockstrom predicts we are getting close to dangerously close to hitting the fifth in a an

article published in Science earlier this year.

Rockstrom came up with the idea of nine planetary boundaries in 2007 and his theory goes that in order to keep Earth hospitable, humans need to live within these nine specific boundaries.

THE NINE PLANETARY BOUNDARIES:

1. Climate change

2. Lost biodiversity as species become extinct

3. Addition of phosphorus nitrogen and other elements to the world’s crops and ecosystems

4. Deforestation and other land use changes

5. Emission of aerosols into the atmosphere that affect climate and living organisms

6. Stratospheric ozone depletion

7. Ocean acidification

8. Freshwater use

9. Dumping of organic pollutants, radioactive materials, nanomaterials, micro-plastics and other man-made substances into the world’s environment.

The nine planetary boundaries. Picture: TED.

SO FAR, WE’VE WRECKED FOUR OF THEM:

As the above graphic shows, when it comes to harming the planet, humans have already made massive mistakes when it comes to climate change, extinction of various species and adding

phosphorus and nitrogen to the world’s ecosystems.

We’ve also made mistakes when it comes to deforestation and are on the way to ruining the Earth further in regards to poisonous aerosol emissions and stratospheric ozone depletion.

The nine planetary boundaries. Picture: TED.

However Rockstrom maintains his recent paper — which is co-authored by 17 colleagues — isn’t a doomsday message, but more of a reminder how lucky humans have been to survive this long.

“The planet has been our best friend by buffering our actions and showing its resilience,” Rockstrom told Ideas Ted, earlier this month.

“But for the first time ever, we might shift the planet from friend to foe.”

According to him, the world can come back even by cutting its carbon emissions to almost zero,

pulling the Earth back across the climate boundary.

However, come countries around the world are already beginning to notice, although efforts may come to late.

Last year, Beijing announced it would close coal-burning power stations in a bid to clean up air pollution.

The Chinese city revealed it would stop using coal and its related products, and close coal-fired

power plants and other coal facilities by 2020 in six of its capital districts.

China has notoriously shocking levels of pollution, with officials revealing air quality is below

national standards in almost all its major cities.

The issue of climate change is also starting to gather further pace in the US as the population becomes more environmentally aware.

President Barack Obama has predicted Republicans will be forced to ditch their scepticism about

climate change in order to keep favour with voters, AFP reported.

Referring to his own daughters Sasha, 13, and Malia, 16, Obama said the next generation was more knowledgeable about the environment than the current generation of voters

“The sophistication and awareness they have about environmental issues, compared to my generation,” Obama said, adding: “They are way ahead of the game.”