The population of Antarctica has just exceeded 100 million residents. Its climate has practically been converted into a tropical paradise. What was once known for its white crisp snow, intense winds, icy sheets and deserted lands is practically unrecognizable today. It’s a place to vacation, watch the sun illuminate the sky and gaze at the crystal blue oceans. It’s paradise like no other, but at what cost?
Recent satellite images have shown a complete transformation of the world’s coldest continent. According to a study by scientists at the universities of Exeter and Hertfordshire in England and the British Antarctic Survey, plant life has increased more than tenfold in the past decade. Vegetation covered less than 0.4 square miles of Antarctica in 1986 but reached almost 5 square miles in 2021 — just over three decades later. Another study by the World Economic Forum found that 150 billion tons of glacier are being lost annually.
Not only does Antarctica’s rising temperatures affect its landscape but also plays a role in biodiversity and albedo, a measure of the reflection of solar energy from the surface of the earth. As albedo increases, the climate becomes cooler as more sunlight is reflected.
“The melting of the ice caps … dilutes the saltwater concentration in the oceans,” science teacher Emily Massey-Burmeister said. “Another thing that is altered is the fact that having massive expanses of a lighter color on the pole region causes this phenomenon called albedo to be high.”
The melting glaciers enter the ocean which influences the currents of the water. Artificial ecosystems can be created when the original direction of the oceans are altered.
“As the ice melts because of the hot water, it makes cavities and when that water comes out, it’s going to increase sea levels,” science teacher Scottie Smith said. “Antarctica is the whole circumpolar portion of the southern seas and that’s going to be a significant problem because the water in the seas spins.”
The direct exposure to sunlight has affected the rate of Antarctica’s rapid melting, including the melting of permafrost.
“Permafrost and partially frozen ground that thaws out has pockets of air trapped in it,” Massey-Burmeister said. “Releasing the CO₂ and those other greenhouse gasses causes even more warming.”
The melting of ice also contributes to the growth of vegetation where lush beds of green moss grow abundantly.
“Permafrost can hinder the ability for some things to set into those ecosystems,” Massey-Burmeister said. “Not having frozen ground is going to allow things to root in better into the system.”
Similarly, the warming up of Antarctica’s climate will expose the continent’s surface.
“At one time when [Antarctica] was part of Pangaea, there were plants and animals on it,” Smith said. “Potentially if the land is uncovered again and as it becomes warmer, you could have primary succession occur with the light ends and grasses and so forth.”
Until individuals begin to take the situation more seriously and come together as one, society will remain at a crossroad.
“People often treat science like a belief system,” Smith said. “Data numbers are hard to argue but because people don’t want to believe that driving two cars to school is a problem … people don’t want to take accountability for their own actions.”
However, there is still hope to prevent Antarctica’s glaciers and permafrost from melting.
“Students can educate themselves because I think there’s a lot of misinformation that is out there about climate change,” Massey-Burmeister said.
There are many little accommodations everybody can make that would go a long way in helping save our environment.
“Be a good environmental citizen,” Smith said. “Turn the light off in your closet [or] in your bedroom when you’re not in there. If it’s cold outside, put on a sweater … You don’t have to waste a lot of electricity to be comfortable. And yes, humans have to use resources … don’t be wasteful.”
In order to preserve the structural integrity of the atmosphere, international corporations and governments must reduce current fossil fuels emissions.
“The atmosphere is a common resource meaning that one nation can’t make enough change to have any substantial effects,” Massey-Burmeister said. “It has to come from a lot of different nations and different corporations taking a stand and implementing effective ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions.”
The ability to end the planet’s rapid warmth lies in the hands of the people, however if proper precautions are not enforced, temperatures can exceed current records causing disastrous outcomes in the near future.
