<
https://theconversation.com/cop28-earths-frozen-zones-are-in-trouble-were-already-seeing-the-consequences-218119>
"As this year’s UN climate summit (COP28) gets under way in Dubai, scientists
studying Earth’s frozen regions have been delivering an urgent call for action
to policy makers. But is anyone listening?
Throughout 2023, we have been warning of an impending series of crises
occurring in the cryosphere – polar ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, mountain
glaciers and permafrost.
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) released its decadal
synopsis on the state of Antarctic climate change and ecosystems. It led the
recent Antarctic Treaty meeting to issue the
Helsinki Declaration to
highlight that significant observed changes in Antarctica influence climate
impacts globally.
The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) has prepared the
Kigali
Declaration, summarising the latest climate science to highlight the urgency
at COP28.
And this month, a
State of the Cryosphere 2023 report assessing the most
recent science warned that even 2°C of warming would trigger irreversible loss
of ice sheets, glaciers, snow, sea ice and permafrost, with disastrous
consequences for society and nature.
I have contributed to all three documents. Some of the most dramatic changes
are occurring in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, including extreme
heatwaves, record lows in sea ice and the emergence of an amplified warming
pattern across the entire Antarctic continent.
These changes are melting Antarctica’s ice sheet and delivering vast quantities
of freshwater to the ocean. This in turn drives an accelerating rise in
shorelines around the world.
Polar warming is also contributing to drought and wildfires in Australia,
floods in New Zealand and extreme weather at every latitude."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
