No matter how loud the right cry ‘fake news’, try to get rid of net zero targets, or remove scientific evidence and resources, ultimately the climate will demonstrate the impact of humans and the climate-heating impact we continue to have.
Experts who have been studying the change across Antarctica have said, ‘large and sudden changes happening in Antarctica are not only connected but accelerating’.
Dr Nerilie Abram, Chief Scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), says, ‘there is an urgent need to stabilise Earth’s climate and prepare for widespread impacts’.
Temperatures in Antarctica have soared by over 35°C. Scientists are concerned about how quickly things are changing as warmer temperatures impact the polar vortex combined with record lows in sea ice cover over the last decade.
‘Rapid change has already been detected across Antarctica’s ice, oceans and ecosystems – and this is set to worsen with every fraction of a degree of global warming,’ says Dr Abram, who carried out this study during her time as Professor of Climate Science at ANU.
There are serious concerns that these rapid changes are signalling a tipping point and will see Antarctica’s weather patterns shift permanently.
If that is the case there could be an increase in sea-level rises of three metres or more.
The Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) that is being seen in Antarctica has happened twice in the last 60 years – once in 2002 and then in 2019. Both these were followed by devastating Australian bushfires, the most recent being the 2019 Black Summer fires.
Couple this with the recent research from UNSW Sydney demonstrating that ‘the chance of large-scale flooding in a specific catchment area can increase by as much as 700 per cent if widespread deforestation has occurred,’ including deforestation by bushfire, then reforestation and fossil fuel reduction use has never been more important.
The Northern Rivers is just one area that has been severely impacted by floods and fires in recent years. Many people are still feeling the direct pressure from droughts, fires and floods.
‘The only way to avoid further abrupt changes and their far-reaching impacts is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to limit global warming to as close to 1.5 °C as possible,’ says Dr Abram.
Action needs to be taken by governments, businesses, and the community. It needs to be significant and it needs to be now.
Aslan Shand, editor
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