KINNAIRD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, LAHORE

SUBMITTED BY: Surriya Murtaza

SUBMITTED TO: Maám Kanwal Naseem
COURSE: ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY
TITLE:  " Glaciers in extreme South pole (Antarctica) are melting at a tremendous rate and
pouring water into seas/oceans of the world at a faster level". Elucidate this statement with the
help of some suitable examples in order to justiy your answer. 

SEMESTER: VI
MAJOR: BS. Accounting And Finance
SUBMISION DATE: 4TH MARCH 2021
From an article written as “Antarctica is melting from below and that's bad news” by
Anne-Sophie Brändlin on 03.04.2018
It has been observed that, The Antarctic has been seen as relatively stable so far. But a recent
report shows that the polar zone is affected by climate change on a much greater scale than
previously thought, which could have catastrophic implications. The rate at which ice is
melting in the Arctic around the North Pole has alarmed scientists for a long time. The Arctic
could be ice-free by 2040 due to climate change, according to recent forecasts. So far, the
Antarctic, the area around the South Pole on the other side of the globe, has been considered
more stable because it has been shown that its ice melts slower and in a less frequent trend
but yes! It is melting as well. A recent report analysing the current state of the Antarctic ice
sheet reveals, however, that glaciers are currently melting at high speed, leading to an
increase in sea levels. The ice that melts from these glaciers flow towards the sea. And thus
increase the sea level. In reality, Greenland could soon be overtaken by Antarctica to become
the largest source of sea-level rise.

HIDDEN UNDERWATER MELT-OFF

Until now, the glacier retreat has been measured predominantly by looking at the size of the
ice mass of our two poles from above. It turns out that not only are glaciers becoming smaller
above freezing, but also below. Some of the Antarctic ice reaches as far as 2 kilo meters (1.2
miles) underwater. And if this underwater ice melts, that's a major risk, since the ice resting
below the surface of the sea floor is especially fragile and can have a huge effect on sea
levels. Think of glaciers as giant ice blocks that sit on the seafloor far below the surface of
the ocean, with just a tiny portion above the surface. The boundary between the floating ice
shelf and the anchor ice below it is called the grounding line, and when assessing how far and
how quickly sea levels are actually rising, that's the line that needs to be investigated. This
creates an increase in sea levels if the glaciers below the grounding line shrink, for example
by melting or detaching from the sea floor or bedrock of the continent because they are too
thin. And the ability of the Antarctic ice sheet to seal away freshwater from the seas, thus
reducing the increase in sea level, is reduced if the grounding line retreats.
GLACIERS RETREATING FASTER NOW THAN EVER BEFORE
Another study by the university of Leeds development shows that based on seven years of
satellite data and knowledge of ice sheet geometry, scientists at the University of Leeds
developed an underwater map of Antarctica.
"We came up with a new method that allows us to map grounding lines and study their retreat
all around Antarctica” He and his colleagues investigated how much of the ice below the
surface of the sea has become thinner because of, and at what speed, climate change. Their
results surprised them. Warming ocean waters also caused a major shrinkage of the ice base
near the ocean floor. This is due to the change in climate.
The ice has either already melted underwater or is heading toward the ocean faster, where
icebergs break off. Shown below in the figure. This occurred in the summer of 2017, when
the Larsen C ice shelf broke from an iceberg seven times the size of Berlin.

Two months later, an iceberg four times the size of Manhattan was lost to the Pine Island
Glacier in western Antarctica.

This figures shows the pine island glacier melting into the ocean
These icebergs, once broken, would leave weaker ice shelves behind, leading to a faster flow
of glaciers from the continent and driving up sea levels. Scientists may now place the melting
of glaciers in a wider sense as well.
They find that nearly a quarter of the West Antarctic glaciers are now melting faster than the
average ice stream of about 20,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels
were still 120 meters (394 feet) below their current level.
"This is extremely concerning, especially for those who live in low-lying areas," Konrad said.
According to Konrad, there are indications that the glacier may collapse within the next 500
to 1,000 years. If that happens, our oceans will rise by about 2 meters.
"The dilemma is that even though we manage to halt or reverse the warming of the oceans,
the ice would not be able to be stabilized. As a result, several islands will become extinct."
Since it has been discovered that most of the loss of icebergs and melting of ice is caused
by the climate change, in a research by By Bharat Raj Singh and Onkar Singh, Study of
Impacts of Global Warming on Climate Change: Rise in Sea Level and Disaster
Frequency
The words "global warming" and "climate change" apply to a rise in global average
temperatures. The key contributors to such changes in average global temperatures are
thought to be natural phenomena and human activities. Climate change, brought about by
increasing carbon dioxide emissions from cars, factories, and power plants, would have an
effect not only on the atmosphere and the sea, but also on the Earth's geology. Carbon
dioxide emissions would change the atmosphere due to our use of fossil fuels and the
temperature is expected to increase by 2 to 6o Celsius by 2100, which is a massive rise from
our current average temperature of 1.7o Celsius as predicted by the IPCC. This can bring
tremendous, both positive and negative, changes to our culture, but the overall effect on our
society is very uncertain at the moment. Forecasts suggest that in the next decade, major
storms will devastate New York City, while Gulf countries would be badly affected long
before that.
Increases in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (NOX), sulphur
dioxide (SO2), hydrogen, etc. are mostly induced by global warming. As a result of the
warming of the earth, climate changes occur, which can have a detrimental effect on weather
in a number of ways. The following are some of the most influential markers of global
warming:
 Temperature on the ground
 Hills are covered with snow.
 The Hills glaciers
 Content in Ocean Heat
 Ice from the Sea
 The level of the sea
 Surface Temperature of the Sea
 Ocean Surface Temperature
 Moisture material
 Temperature Tropospheric
In today's environment, global warming poses a danger to humanity's existence. In 1956,
Marion King Hubert, a US-based chief consultant and oil geologist, (1956) predicted that if
oil is consumed at a high rate, US oil production will peak in 1970 and decrease thereafter.
He also estimated that other countries will hit peak oil in the next 20-30 years, and that many
more will face oil shortages in the next 40 years as oil wells dry up. He represented the
projection with a bell-shaped Hubert Curve based on fossil fuel supply and use. Large fields
are discovered first, followed by small fields. Following discovery and an initial rise in
performance, output plateaus and gradually drops to zero.
Crude oil, coal, and gas are the key sources of energy in the world. The scale of fossil fuel
reserves, as well as the quandary of when non-renewable resources will be exhausted, is a
crucial and debatable issue that must be tackled. In order to demonstrate the relationship
between fossil fuel reserves and some key variables, a new formula for estimating when
fossil fuel reserves are likely to be exhausted is provided along with an econometric model
(Shahriar Shafiee et.al. 2009). The new formula is updated from the Klass model and thus
assumes a constant compound rate and estimates depletion periods for fossil fuel reserves of
approximately 35, 107 and 37 years for oil, coal and gas, respectively. This means that up to
2112, coal reserves are open, which will be the only remaining fossil fuel after 2042.
In this article By Bharat Raj Singh and Onkar Singh he has proved some of these facts by
giving the examples of the other countries
Vehicle pollution in India is estimated to have risen eightfold in the last two decades. It is
estimated that this cause alone contributes about 70 percent to the overall pollution of the air.
India is ranked fifth in the world behind the U.S., China, Russia and Japan with 243.3
million tons of carbon emitted from the use and combustion of fossil fuels in 1999. Due to the
rapid speed of urbanization, the transition from non-commercial to commercial fuels,
increased vehicle usage and the continued use of older and more obsolete coal and diesel
power plants, India's contribution to world carbon emissions is expected to increase in the
coming years (Singh, BR, et al., 2010).
Therefore, the peak oil year will be the turning point for humanity that will lead to the end of
100 years of easy development if energy self-sufficiency and sustainability are not sustained
on a priority basis. This chapter discusses attempts to explore non-conventional energy
resources such as solar energy, wind energy, bio-mass and bio-gas, hydrogen, and bio-diesel,
which can help to conserve fossil fuel reserves while reducing tail pipe emissions and other
contaminants such as CO2, NOX, and others. To ensure energy efficiency in the twenty-first
century, a special focus is placed on energy storage, such as compressed air stored from solar,
wind, and or other resources such as climatic energy.

FACTORS INFLUENCING
GLOBAL WARMING:
The different impacts on climate change pose risks that increase with changes in the global
mean temperature of the Earth, i.e., global warming. Many of these threats have been
grouped into five "reasons for concern" by the IPCC (2001d and 2007d).
 Threats and unique structures to endangered species,
 Damages caused by severe weather events,
  Effects which have the greatest impact on developed countries and
 The poor in nations, global aggregate impacts (i.e. different measures of overall
social, economic and ecological impacts) and high-impact events on a wide scale.
Climate change may have physical, biological, social, or economic implications. The
instrumental temperature record, rising sea levels, and reduced snow cover in the Northern
Hemisphere are all evidence of climate change. "[Most] of the observed rise in global surface
temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in [human
greenhouse gas] concentrations," according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC, 2007a:10). Further global warming (i.e., an upward trend in global mean
temperature), sea level rise, and a possible increase in the frequency of certain extreme
weather events are all expected to occur in the future. The parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change have agreed to introduce policies aimed at
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Further global warming (i.e., an upward trend in global
mean temperature), sea level rise, and a possible increase in the frequency of certain extreme
weather events are all expected to occur in the future. The parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change have agreed to introduce policies aimed at
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This given figure explain the

cycle of how the global warming is effecting the ice age, Today, the atmosphere contains
more greenhouse gas molecules, so the atmosphere ends up consuming more of the infrared
radiation released by the earth. The Earth's surface temperature increases as some of the
extra energy from a warmer atmosphere radiates back down to the surface. Due to this when
the temperature is high and the sun strikes its shine to the specific parts of the earth for
example the south pole, the peak of the ice bergs and the glaciers gets effected and starts
melting, the melted water is then taken down to the below surface of the ocean and increase
the sea level.

CLIMATE CHANGE:
The word "climate change" refers to a change in the climate that can be quantified using
statistical properties, such as the global mean surface temperature. The climate is known to
mean the normal weather in this sense. Climate change can occur over a period of months to
thousands or millions of years. As established by the World Meteorological Organization, the
classical time span is 30 years. Climate change can be caused by natural forces, such as
changes in the sun's output, or by human activity, such as altering the composition of the
atmosphere. Against the backdrop of natural climate variability, any human-induced climate
changes will happen.
Climate change represents a change in the climate system's energy balance, i.e. changes in the
relative balance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing Earth-based infrared
radiation. It is called "radiative forcing" when this equilibrium shifts, and one part of the
study of climate science is the estimation and measurement of radiative forcing. The "forcing
mechanisms" are called the processes that cause such changes. "Mechanisms of pushing may
be either "internal" or "external". Internal forcing mechanisms are natural processes, e.g.
meridional turnover, within the climate system itself. External forcing mechanisms can be
either normal (e.g., solar production changes) or anthropogenic (e.g. (e.g., increased
emissions of greenhouse gases). A wide variety of other climate changes are closely
correlated with global warming, such as:
 Increases in the number of occasions that heavy rain occurs in a short period of time,
 Decreases in sea ice and snow cover,
 More regular and intense waves of heat,
 Increase in sea levels, and
 Acidification of the seas on a wide scale.

This figures shows the Decline in thickness of glaciers worldwide over the past half-century.

Along with the effect of global warming and the climatic changes there are few other factors
that are involved in the greenhouse effect which thus are related to the melting of the glaciers,
so we can say that they are second hand or are indirectly related to the melting of the glaciers.
These will not be thus discussed thoroughly as they are not directly linked:

CHANCE OF HEAVY PRECIPITATION:

Rising flood risk is now recognized in most parts of the world as the most significant sectoral
threat from climate change, with recent frequent extreme floods in the UK and Europe
causing major property and life damages and threatening the insurance industry with the
removal of flood insurance coverage from millions of UK households. This has sparked
public conversation about the apparent rise in the frequency of extremes, with a specific
emphasis on perceived changes in rainfall intensities. Integrations of the climate model
predict changes in both the frequency and severity of heavy rainfall under enhanced
greenhouse conditions at high latitudes. These predictions are consistent with recent rainfall
intensity rises seen in the UK and globally.

This figure shows A Pakistani mother carries her children through flood waters in 2010. The
IPCC report deals with the relationship between man-made climate change and extreme
weather. (Photograph: K.M.Chaudary/AP)

Conclusion:
According to numerous studies and estimates, the current rate of carbon dioxide release in the
atmosphere would cause not only an increase in global temperature, but also a rise in sea
level and an increase in the frequency of natural disasters. From the above analysis, the
following major challenges are noted:
1. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent as a result of human-caused
pollution. There are likely to be several more heatwaves, droughts and shifts in the
patterns of rainfall, in particular.
2. In 2100, the temperature is expected to increase by 2 to 6 degrees Celsius, which is a
significant increase from our current average temperature of 1.7 degrees Celsius
(IPCC)
3. If the rapid melting of polar sea ice continues, sea level rise around Manhattan and
Long Island could exceed 10 inches by the mid-2020s. Under the same conditions,
sea-level rise could exceed 2.5 feet by 2050 and more than 4.5 feet by 2080.
4. Through causing earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches and volcanic eruptions, global
warming threatens the world in a fresh and unpredictable way.
5. Because of climate change, potential Irene-like storms will flood a third of New York
City streets and much of the tunnels leading into Manhattan in under an hour.
 6. There are only a few examples of potential suspects; there will be many more
negative effects of climate change across the world, placing society at risk, causing
growth to be disrupted, and rescue attempts to become more significant.

REFERENCES:
https://www.intechopen.com/books/global-warming-impacts-and-future-
perspective/study-of-impacts-of-global-warming-on-climate-change-rise-in-sea-level-
and-disaster-frequency
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-reason-antarctica-is-melting-shifting-
winds-driven-by-global-warming/