As many have heard Antarctica has had its floral awakening. Now this does not sound as a problem to some as there are some indigenous flowers, but these flowers have not been there for a long time. These flowers had gone dormant and have only now arisen from the rise of climate change, in a bad manner. Here are some of the effects and preventative measures for this environmental problem.
The Arctic sea has lost its ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade. Over the past 30 years the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic ice has declined by 95%. If the emissions continue to rise the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer by 2040. This ice helps balance out other parts of the world that absorb heat. With less ice there will be less reflected heat resulting in more intense heatwaves worldwide. There will also be more extreme winter: as the polar jet stream is destabilized by warmer air, can dip south, bringing bitter cold with it.
The sea level has risen by 7-8 inches since 1900 and it is only going to get worse. This rise endangers coastal cities and small island nations by exacerbating coastal flooding and storm surges. This makes dangerous weather events even more dangerous. If Greenlands ice sheet melts entirely global sea levels could rise by 20 feet.
Polar vortexes, increased heat waves, and unpredictability of weather caused by ice loss are already causing significant damage to crops on which global food systems depend. This instability will continue to mean higher prices for many of the world’s most vulnerable.
The melting ice will also cause new shipping routes to open in the Arctic. With this they will be tempting time-savers of routes but are incredibly dangerous. This will cause more shipwrecks or oil spills that are inaccessible to rescue or clean-up crews. Another result will be animals that depend on ice for survival must adapt or perish. Specifically the loss of ice and melting permafrost spells trouble for polar bears, walruses, arctic foxes, snowy owls, reindeer, and many other species. This chain of events causes the degradation of other species in addition to people.
The Arctic ice and permafrost store large amounts of methane, greenhouse gas, that contribute to climate change. This increases the rate of warming. This causes more ice and permafrost to thaw and/or melt which results in more methane, which causes more melting in turn. This will cause the start of seeing the worst climate change predictions come true.
There are preventative measures that can be put in effect. Limiting the increase of global temperature prevents even more damaging consequences. Keeping the rise to 1.5C, or 2.7F, will prevent the worst effects of climate change. Acknowledging the boundaries of the planets resources helps keep the temperature intact. Being environmentally aware, such as not wasting product that could be used again, helps limiting the production of greenhouse gases along with limiting the melting of polar ice.
Global Environmental Change 