Glaciers in Antarctica are melting faster than previously thought. They are also melting in a much wider area, which could men that the sea levels could rise by a higher percentage than before and force millions of people to flee their homes. There has been steady fear of this event for years, but now it appears that the tragic event could happen much sooner than initially expected.
Researchers used to believe that the melting was limited to the Antarctic Peninsula, however this is not the case anymore as satellite data and automated weather stations now suggest that the melting is far more widespread than originally thought.
It is estimated that by the end of the century, the melting could cause sea levels to climb by four to six feet, levels much higher than had been previously predicted. These increased sea levels will have a much more widespread effect on people and their homes. There really may be no place to hide and our entire environment will be drastically reduced and damaged.
The accelerated melting in the Antarctica has surprised many of the researchers and experts in this field. The big surprise being that the glaciers in western Antarctica (which is situated on the Pacific Ocean side of the continent that is located next to the South Pole) has been melting faster than any one had actually thought.
The Pine Island Glacier, which is situated in western Antarctica, is moving 40 percent faster than it was in 1980s. The Smith Glacier which is also in west Antarctica is moving 83 faster than in 1990.
Summerhayes (executive director of the Britain-based Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) said. "If the west Antarctica sheet collapses, then we're looking at a sea level rise of between 3 feet, 4 inches, to nearly 5 feet. Together, all the glaciers in west Antarctica are losing a total of around 114 billion tons per year because the melting is much greater than the new snowfall. That's equivalent to the current mass loss from the whole of the Greenland ice sheet, we didn't realize it was moving that fast," Summerhayes said.
Summerhayes said sea levels will definitely climb higher than previously predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Intergovernmental Panel predicted that sea levels would rise from 7 to 23 inches by the end of the century.
Clearly the Antarctica glaciers are melting very fast, however the question is how do we prevent the accelerated melting of these glaciers?
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