In 2022, the world experienced another year of extreme weather events caused by climate change, from severe storms to rapidly rising temperatures and rising sea levels. Antarctica is no exception, according to new research published this week.
The 33rd annual Climate Report, an international assessment of global climate, was published in the Bulletin on Wednesday. American Meteorological SocietyThe planet’s coldest and driest continent experienced unprecedented temperatures and extreme rainfall last year, CU Boulder researchers report.
“I hope the public will begin to see both the fragility and complexity of these polar regions,” said Rajashree Tri Datta, a research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences who contributed to the Antarctic and Southern sections of the report. ocean.
Although Antarctica appears isolated from the rest of the world, changes to the icy continent can have a significant impact on the rest of the world.
“Most of the freshwater on the planet is stored in the Antarctic ice sheet. What happens there ultimately affects coasts around the world, and what affects coasts around the world affects everything from agriculture to migration patterns,” Datta said.
In recent years, scientists have observed a rapid decrease in sea ice and increased warming. Areas of Antarctica, such as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, began losing ice rapidly, contributing to rising sea levels.
Datta and his team reported that for six days last March, temperatures in a large region of East Antarctica were 18 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) above the historical March average from 1991 to 2020. The temperature recorded at a weather station in East Antarctica reached a record high of 14.7 F (-9.6C) on March 16, 2022; this was 79 F (44C) above the average March temperature in the region.
March usually marks the transition from summer to winter in Antarctica, and temperatures drop rapidly. Following a heat wave, the Conger Ice Shelf, a Roman-sized floating tongue of ice, collapsed in East Antarctica. Over the years, this ice sheet has become increasingly vulnerable. The collapse of floating ice shelves can often accelerate the loss of upstream glaciers, resulting in ice loss and sea level rise.
Datta said people around the world will face more frequent and intense heat waves in 2022, and the team’s research offers an opportunity to communicate about climate change in Antarctica in a way that resonates with the public.
“They know what a heat wave means. They experience it in their daily lives, and it affects Antarctica as well, although in very different ways,” Datta said.
Also unprecedented snowfall
East Antarctica also saw unprecedented amounts of snowfall last March, with some places tripling the monthly average compared to the March average from 1991 to 2020. As a result, the annual balance of snow and ice stored on the surface of the ice sheet has reached its highest value in the last 40 years since observational data became available.
“This year’s heavy rainfall is very interesting because it compensates for the loss of ice on the edges of Antarctica,” Datta said. “This year’s snowfall actually protected the world from rising sea levels.”
Weather phenomena called atmospheric rivers, similar to those that caused record flooding in California this year, contributed to both the heat wave and record rainfall, Datta said. These storms will draw moisture from lower latitudes, bringing warm weather and heavy rainfall to Antarctica in 2022.
While precipitation in Antarctica usually comes in the form of snow, changes in these atmospheric rivers could bring enough heat to encourage further surface melting or lead to future rainfall, raising sea levels and affecting billions of people around the world, he said. Greenland, which is much warmer than Antarctica, is already experiencing many of these effects.
The state of the climate report, created with the participation of more than 570 international scientists, also states that the greenhouse gas concentration on Earth reached a new record last year. The global annual average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 50% higher than pre-industrial levels, the highest level measured by modern observations. The amount of heat stored in the ocean continued to rise, as did global sea level, reaching an average of 4 inches above the 1993 average.
Elsewhere in the report, Twila Moon, deputy principal scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at CU Boulder, said changing weather patterns also affect the planet’s other pole.
“Observations over the last forty-odd years indicate a shift to a wetter Arctic, with seasonal changes and large-scale disturbances affecting Arctic flora, fauna, physical systems, and humans,” Moon and his team wrote.
“This report adds pieces to the bigger puzzle of how climate change may affect Antarctica,” Datta said. said. “Further research into many of these dramatic events in 2022 and their causes and impacts may provide us with a better understanding of our potential future.” Source
Source: Port Altele
