Climate Change in Antarctica
Melting, Shifting, Changing
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Climate change in Antarctica is a problem for animals and humans alike. The changes in temperature due to global warming and the hole in the ozone layer are shifting the size of ice sheets all over Antarctica, causing some of the largest to melt and collapse into the ocean, while others begin to grow. The collapse of many large ice sheets is also greatly reducing many animals’ habitats in the region, and the loss of much of their food is causing them to starve. This problem is also affecting global temperatures, global climates, and the direction of the winds, which in turn influence the temperature of Antarctica. The warming of the oceans is melting ice sheets and absorbing more of the sun’s radiation, which, by feedback loops, cause the waters to warm even more, killing krill and other animals that are important for the survival of some of the land animals. The movement and collapse of these large ice sheets also cause instability to the glaciers on the land of Antarctica. Without the ice sheets holding the glaciers to the land, they have been slowly moving toward the ocean, where they will inevitably cause a large rise in sea levels creating floods in many of the low-lying costal regions around the world.
Together, the same things cause all of the events listed above: Climate Change, Global Warming, the Hole in the Ozone Layer, and Releasing High Levels of CO2 into the Atmosphere.