En este punto no estaría de más recordar lo que reza el catecismo de la conjetura del calentamiento global antropogénico, tal cual lo ha expresado el cónclave superior reunido en los sagrados recintos del IPPC:
El cambio climático será especialmente poderoso en AMBOS polos, y sus graves efectos se extenderán desde ellos a todas las regiones del planeta (profecía dictada con una muy alta confianza):IPCC AR5 WGI : Polar Regions Polar Amplification , Permafrost, Sea ice changes IPCC AR5 WGI : Polar Regions Polar Amplification , Permafrost, Sea ice changes Polar amplification All Figures © IPCC 2013 Polar Amplification – zonal mean surface temperature warming at high latitudes exceeds global average temperature change. New temperature reconstructions and simulations of past climates show with high confidence polar amplification in response to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration. In the absence of a strong reduction in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning, the Arctic region is projected to warm most (very high confidence) Pues sí, el IPCC l tiene muy claro:
IPPC TAR-WG2: Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic) Changes around the Antarctic Peninsula: This region has experienced spectacular retreat and collapse of ice shelves, which has been related to a southerly migration of the January 0°C isotherm resulting from regional warming. The loss of these ice shelves has few direct impacts. Projected warming is likely, however, to break up ice shelves further south on the Antarctic Peninsula, expose more bare ground, and cause changes in t e r r e strial biology, such as introduction of exotic plants and animals.
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Changes in the Southern Ocean and impacts on its life: Climate change is likely to produce long-term—perhaps irreversible—changes in the physical oceanography and ecology of the Southern Ocean.
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For the Antarctic continent, the models tend to predict more snow in winter and summer. Although temperatures are forecast to increase by 0.5°C, there will be little impact on melt because they will remain well below freezing, except in limited coastal localities. Así que ya lo sabéis: ¡arrepentíos y dejad de consumir combustibles fósiles, o si no...!
Antarctic ice melting 6 times faster than it did in '80sThe ice in Antarctica is melting six times faster than it did 40 years ago, according to a new study.
This acceleration of the ice loss is a clear indication of human-caused climate change, the study authors said.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak,” Rignot said. “As the Antarctic ice sheet continues to melt away, we expect multi-meter sea level rise from Antarctica in the coming centuries.” In this century, a 10-foot rise is possible, he said.
Rignot said that as climate warming and ozone depletion send more ocean heat toward the Antarctic, the continent's melting ice will contribute to sea-level rise for "decades to come."
The solution to halt the melting, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, isn't a surprise: Stop the burning of fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases into the Earth's atmosphere and oceans.