News Alert: Η κλιματική αλλαγή έχει αποσταθεροποιήσει τους πόλους της Γης, σύμφωνα με νέα έρευνα, θέτοντας τον υπόλοιπο πλανήτη σε κίνδυνο

Ο γρήγορος μετασχηματισμός της Αρκτικής και της Ανταρκτικής δημιουργεί κυματιστικά φαινόμενα σε όλο τον πλανήτη. Η στάθμη της θάλασσας θα ανέβει, οι καιρικές συνθήκες θα αλλάξουν και τα οικοσυστήματα θα αλλοιωθούν. Αν η ανθρωπότητα δεν ενεργήσει γρήγορα για να περιορίσει τις εκπομπές, λένε οι επιστήμονες, οι ίδιες δυνάμεις που έχουν αποσταθεροποιήσει τους πόλους θα προκαλέσουν όλεθρο στον υπόλοιπο κόσμο.

 
Climate change has destabilized Earth’s poles, new research shows, putting the rest of the planet in peril

For the first time this year, rain fell on the summit of the Greenland ice sheet. Beavers and commercial ships are invading formerly frozen areas. A crucial Antarctic ice shelf is on the brink of collapse. New research shows how rising temperatures have irreversibly altered both the Arctic and Antarctic. The ripple effects will be felt around the globe.

The ice shelf was cracking up. Surveys showed warm ocean water eroding its underbelly. Satellite imagery revealed long, parallel fissures in the frozen expanse, like scratches from some clawed monster. One fracture grew so big, so fast, scientists took to calling it “the dagger.”

“It was hugely surprising to see things changing that fast,” said Erin Pettit. The Oregon State glaciologist had chosen this spot for her Antarctic field research precisely because of its stability. While other parts of the infamous Thwaites Glacier crumbled, this wedge of floating ice acted as a brace, slowing the melt. It was supposed to be boring, durable, safe.

Now climate change has turned the ice shelf into a threat — to Pettit’s field work, and to the world.

Planet-warming pollution from burning fossil fuels and other human activities has already raised global temperatures more than 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit). But the effects are particularly profound at the poles, where rising temperatures have seriously undermined regions once locked in ice.

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Πηγή: washingtonpost.com