The study, led by the University of Southampton, revealed that a series of compounding events, including strengthening winds and increased cloud cover, has ravaged the continent, leading to record-breaking lows in 2023. It also found that massive loss of sea ice destabilizes the world's ocean current systems, warming the planet faster than expected.
READ MORE: Antarctica is being overwhelmed by a triple whammy of climate chaos that has driven sea ice to record lows , a new study has revealed.
For decades, the frozen wilderness at South Pole defied global warming trends with ice continuing to grow – until 2015 when it suddenly reversed. Now, scientists believe they have discovered why. Experts say a series of compounding events have ravaged the continent, including strengthening winds which pull warm water to the surface. These have been so extreme that vast amounts of ice equivalent to the size of Greenland have been wiped out, leading to record–breaking lows in 2023.
Dr Aditya Narayanan, lead author from the University of Southampton, said Antarctic sea ice helps drive a crucial ocean current system known as AMOC. He said: 'Since 2015, the region has undergone a huge transformation, with extreme ice loss around the continent. What started as a slow build–up of deep–sea heat under the Antarctic sea ice was followed by a violent mixing of water, ending in a vicious cycle where it's too warm to let ice recover.
'It's concerning because massive loss of sea ice destabilises the world's ocean current systems, warming our planet far quicker than expected. ' Penguins sitting on Antarctic sea ice, which has been decimated in recent years and reached record lows Experts say a series of compounding events have ravaged the continent including strengthening winds which pull warm water to the surface and increased cloud cover The study, published in Science Advances, was undertaken by the Southampton experts working with scientists worldwide.
Using a sophisticated ice–measuring programme, the team found the sea ice decline happened in three stages, driven by shifting winds and warming oceans. First of all, around 2013, strengthening winds began pulling warm, salty water from the deep ocean closer to the surface, they explained. In 2015 intense wind then mixed the deeper heat directly into the surface layer, rapidly melting sea ice – particularly in East Antarctica.
And since 2018, the ice–ocean system has become trapped in a cycle where, with less ice to melt, the surface remains salty and warm – preventing new ice from forming. The scientists also found a significant imbalance in how the ice is retreating across the continent. East Antarctic ice loss is almost entirely ocean–driven, fuelled by an upward surge of warmer deep water.
However in West Antarctica, heat was trapped in the ocean by intense cloud cover, which melted the sea ice during the summers of 2016 and 2019. Academics on a research ship looking at collapsing Antarctic sea ice.
The team said these conditions are likely to persist under the influence of greenhouse gas emissions and the ozone hole The red sections of this graph signify periods when the atmosphere is warming the ocean, while the blue sections show when the ocean is losing heat to the atmosphere The triple whammy of climate chaos threatening Antarctica According to the study, the triple whammy behind the disappearance of Antarctic sea ice was a consequence of three compounding processes.
'This isn't just a regional problem – Antarctic sea ice acts as Earth's mirror, reflecting solar radiation back into space,' co–author Dr Alessandro Silvano said. 'Its loss could destabilise the currents that store heat and carbon in the ocean, accelerating global warming, and also destabilise ice shelves that prevent glaciers from sliding into the sea, raising global sea levels.
' The team also warned that human–driven climate change is fuelling stronger winds, exposing the Southern Ocean's surface and pushing deep–sea heat upwards. If this continues, the Southern Ocean could be pushed into a 'prolonged low sea–ice state,' said Professor in Physical Oceanography Alberto Naveira Garabato from the University of Southampton.
He added: 'If the low sea–ice coverage prevails into 2030 and beyond, the ocean may transition from a stabiliser of the world's climate to a powerful new driver of global warming.
' The study concludes: 'We have shown that Antarctic sea ice loss in recent years was the compound result of a range of drivers acting in three distinct phases. 'This has led to a sustained low sea ice state unprecedented in the observational record. 'There is good reason to believe that upwelling–favourable conditions…are likely to persist under the influence of greenhouse gas emissions and the ozone hole.
' Rapidly melting ice shelves in Antarctica could trigger global sea levels to rise even faster than expected, scientists have warned Earlier this week, a separate group of experts warned that rapidly melting ice shelves in Antarctica could trigger global sea levels to rise even faster than expected. Antarctica's vast floating ice shelves surround about 75 per cent of the continent's coastline and act like a vast buttress, holding back the flow of inland glaciers.
However, Norwegian researchers have discovered that deep channel–like grooves beneath the ice are trapping swirling eddies of relatively warm ocean water. That warm water melts ice beneath the surface 10 times faster than normal, threatening the structural integrity of the entire ice shelves.
Read More World's largest iceberg ends its ocean odyssey: Huge TRILLION tonne megaberg that was once more than twice the size of Greater London breaks into chunks just months shy of its 40th birthday Lead author Dr Qin Zhou, senior scientist for Norwegian research organisation Akvaplan–niva, told the Daily Mail: 'These ice shelves may be more vulnerable to ocean warming than previously assumed.
' If the Antarctic shelves were significantly weakened or even started to collapse, it would release the gigatonnes of ice currently being held back in the ice sheet. The ice sheet currently holds enough fresh water to raise sea levels by a staggering 58 meters , threatening millions of people with flooding.
While the researchers don't think the entire ice sheet will melt, they warn that sea levels are likely to be a lot higher than previous climate models have predicted. Antarctica's ice sheets contain 70% of world's fresh water - and sea levels would rise by 180ft if it melts Antarctica holds a huge amount of water.
The three ice sheets that cover the continent contain around 70 per cent of our planet’s fresh water - and these are all to warming air and oceans. If all the ice sheets were to melt due to global warming, Antarctica would raise global sea levels by at least 183ft . Given their size, even small losses in the ice sheets could have global consequences.
In addition to rising sea levels, meltwater would slow down the world’s ocean circulation, while changing wind belts may affect the climate in the southern hemisphere. In February 2018, Nasa revealed El Niño events cause the Antarctic ice shelf to melt by up to ten inches every year. El Niño and La Niña are separate events that alter the water temperature of the Pacific ocean.
The ocean periodically oscillates between warmer than average during El Niños and cooler than average during La Niñas. Using Nasa satellite imaging, researchers found that the oceanic phenomena cause Antarctic ice shelves to melt while also increasing snowfall. In March 2018, it was revealed that more of a giant France-sized glacier in Antarctica is floating on the ocean than previously thought.
This has raised fears it could melt faster as the climate warms and have a dramatic impact on rising sea-levels.
Antarctica Climate Change Sea Ice Ocean Current System Record Lows Global Warming Ocean Heat Deep-Sea Heat Wind Cloud Cover
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