Scientists estimate that exotic and rare sea animals will become extinct if the temperature of the sea rises by about 2 degrees; In the last 15 years, the temperature in the region has increased by one degree; Population at risk: clams, mussels and spiders
Reuters, Walla system!
Antarctica. The heat is rising (Photo: Reuters)
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Thousands of species of rare sea animals are in danger of extinction if global warming causes the water temperature in the Antarctic region to rise, as expected. Scientist Lloyd Peck, a member of the British delegation to the frozen continent, estimates that "if the predictions come true, we are expected to lose large parts of the population of oysters, mussels and giant water spiders".
The members of the delegation have so far tested 11 varieties and determined that an increase of two to three degrees in the water temperature will cause them to suffocate. According to the study, the temperature of the water in the Antarctic has increased by one degree in the last 15 years - twice the rate of the temperature increase on land. The scientists estimated that in the next century the temperature in Antarctica will rise by about three degrees. Early research revealed that the marine creatures in the area are unable to adapt to temperature changes and suffocate because they are unable to transport oxygen in their bodies.
Scientist Peck said that "these are the most vulnerable animals in the world to temperature changes, they grow at a very slow rate and produce only a limited number of generations in about 100 years". According to him, in the Antarctic environment there are some of the most exotic and rare animals found in the world - mainly due to the non-interference of man in their environment. Peck explained that the extinction of these animals may affect not only the food chain, but also at levels that are difficult to predict.
Scientist Andrew Brierley said, on the other hand, that the warming of the area will not harm the survival of a krill called "krill" and as a result, the survival of the whales and penguins will be preserved.
Another huge glacier broke off from the Antarctic continent
16/05/2002
The C-19 iceberg, which is about a third of Israel's territory, is sailing in the sea to the north; A week
that passed separated another glacier from the same ice surface; The breakup of the glaciers is an early sign of global warming and expected climate changes
From: Haaretz Service,
Satellite images have located another huge glacier that has broken off from the Antarctic continent - as reported yesterday on the website of the CNN network. The area of the rectangular block of ice, known as C-19, is approximately 6,336 square kilometers. Although not the largest glacier that has broken off from Antarctica in recent years, the size of
C-19 is about a third the size of Israel.
Last week another glacier broke off, C-18, which is 75 km long and 7 km wide - a little less than 10 times the area of Manhattan. C-18 and C-19 are next to each other on the edge of the "Ross" ice shelf - a huge area of ice stretching from the continent into the Ross Sea, on the part of the continent closest to New Zealand.
The new glaciers were spotted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors satellite images from the US Department of Defense's Meteorological Satellite Program.
A series of glaciers that are increasing in size have broken off from the Antarctic continent in recent years, raising concerns that temperatures are on a constant upward trend in the Arctic region. Such a trend, which in the estimation of many scientists is an early sign of global warming, may have consequences for climate change in many regions on the planet.
Concerns have also been raised that these giant glaciers – some measuring more than 10,000 square kilometers – could endanger shipping lanes as they move north and break up. The Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ice Center monitors the location of the glaciers, and in recent years scientists have located glaciers within 1,600 km of the city of Cape Town in South Africa and Christchurch in New Zealand.
Like a wall breaking into hundreds of thousands of bricks
22/03/2002
A large ice shelf in West Antarctica collapsed with a speed that stunned researchers
Photo: IP
Pieces of the broken ice shelf. It is still too early to determine if there is a direct connection between the collapse of the ice shelf and global warming, but according to researchers "the longer the breaking of the ice shelves continues, the harder it is to find other explanations"
An ice shelf in Antarctica, with an area of about 3,200 square kilometers, collapsed last month at a very high speed, British scientists reported on Tuesday. The collapse of the ice shelf, which is about 200 meters thick, will not cause the sea level to rise. However, the researchers who documented the phenomenon, from the British Association for Antarctic Research, said that this is the first time in thousands of years that in the part of Antarctica where the ice shelf is located - the eastern side of the arm-like peninsula of the continent - there was a break of such a large block of ice.
According to them, it is still too early to determine whether the collapse of the ice shelf is related to global warming as a result of the emission of "greenhouse gases". However, the glacier researcher Dr. Theodore Scambus from the University of Colorado, who documented the retreat of the ice in Antarctica, said that "the more the breaking of the ice shelves continues, the more difficult it is to find other explanations." It should be noted that along with the warming in the coastal areas, there has been a cooling in the interior parts of Antarctica in recent decades.
The broken ice shelf is Larsen, B which has probably existed since the last ice age. "There is no evidence that in the last 12 thousand years there was water in the area that is now exposed," said Dr. Scambos.
For years, researchers observing the area with the help of satellites have seen the slow breaking of parts of the ice shelf. But according to experts, the rate of breakage in the last month was much faster. In fact, the final breakup of the ice shelf took only 31 days. "It happened with incredible speed," said Dr. David Vaughan, a glaciologist at the University of Cambridge. "We knew that eventually Larsen B would collapse, but we didn't expect it to happen so quickly. He just collapsed like a wall breaking into hundreds of thousands of bricks."
According to the researchers, the cause of the phenomenon is apparently a rapid rise in temperatures. In the last 50 years, temperatures in this area of Antarctica have risen by about 2.5 degrees Celsius - a rate of warming five times higher than the average for the whole planet - and hundreds of small lakes have formed on the surface of the ice shelf and in nearby places. According to Dr. Scambos, the water on the surface flows along cracks in the ice and in this way deepens and expands them, until eventually the entire structure begins to collapse.
It seems that as a result of the collapse of the ice shelf, a larger amount of ice slid into the Southern Ocean than following the collapse of all the glaciers that broke off in the last half century. "This is the largest single event in a series of retreats of the ice shelves in the last 30 years," the United States Government Ice Research Center said.
From 1945 until last month, about 7,700 square kilometers of ice had separated from the coastal areas of the peninsula where Larsen B is found in several large ice collapses. Two smaller ice shelves - Larsen A and Prince Gustav - collapsed in 1995 after years of shrinking. Two other ice shelves - Wilkins and George VI - are, according to researchers, on the verge of breaking.
Britain's environment minister, Michael Mitscher, said the collapse of the ice shelf is "a cause for great concern and a warning sign to the entire world. The warming in the Antarctic peninsula where the broken ice shelf is located is related to the warming of the entire planet. However, it is not clear why the warming in this area is greater than in other areas."
Guardian and New York Times
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