Scientists are questioning whether a ‘regime shift’ to a new state of diminished Antarctic sea-ice coverage is underway, due to recent record lows.If so, it will have impacts across climate, ecological and
Scientists are questioning whether a ‘regime shift’ to a new state of diminished Antarctic sea-ice coverage is underway, due to recent record lows.
If so, it will have impacts across climate, ecological and societal systems, according to new research published in PNAS Nexus.
These impacts include ocean warming, increased iceberg calving, habitat loss and sea-level rise, and effects on fisheries, Antarctic tourism, and even the mental health of the global human population.
Led by Australian Antarctic Program Partnership oceanographer Dr Edward Doddridge, the international team assessed the impacts of extreme summer sea-ice lows, and the challenges to predicting and mitigating change.
“Antarctic sea ice provides climate and ecosystem services of regional and global significance,” Doddridge said. “There are far reaching negative impacts caused by sea-ice loss.
“However, we do not sufficiently understand the baseline system to be able to predict how it will respond to the dramatic changes we are already observing.
“To predict future changes, and to potentially mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on Antarctica, we urgently need to improve our knowledge through new observations and modelling studies.”
While sea-ice loss affects many things, the research team identified three key impacts:
• Reduced summer sea-ice cover exposes more
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