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The rise in global temperatures has already reached the level of an unprecedented threat to humanity and the entire ecosystem. Over the next 50-100 years, most coastal areas may be underwater or experience devastating flooding due to rising ocean levels, and the climate will change beyond recognition. A major role in this is played by the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which is the second largest, second only to the Antarctic glaciers.
Pros estimates scientists from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, between 1985 and 2023, the area of glaciers in Greenland decreased by 5,91 square kilometers, which is three times the area of London.
For a long time, scientists believed that the glaciers in Greenland were relatively stable, but it turned out that since 2000, the area of the ice sheet has been shrinking by about 218 square kilometers annually.
Among other things:
Scientists suggest that if the glaciers in Greenland melt completely, the sea level will rise by a catastrophic 7 meters If absolutely all the glaciers on the planet melt, the sea level rise will be an incredible 60-65 meters.It will look something like this:
But these threats should be considered in the long term. Ice sheets will continue to melt for centuries to come And even if humanity reduces greenhouse gas emissions to zero, glacial melting will not stop.
The volume of CO2 and other gases in the atmosphere is so large that to stop the reduction of the ice sheets, it is necessary to remove these harmful compounds from the atmosphere Unfortunately, we have to admit that humanity does not currently have the appropriate proven technologies, and there is no reason to talk about any significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
It is worth noting that sea level rise is influenced not only by melting glaciers, but also by the thermal expansion of water volume due to rising temperatures and the oceans absorbing large amounts of heat from the atmosphere.
From 1970 to 2015, sea level rise was about 2 mm per year, but over the past 10 years it has doubled to more than 4 mm and continues to accelerate.
Scientists say that by the middle of this century, the rate of sea level rise could reach 10 mm per year.
According to scientists, the melting of glaciers in Greenland will not only contribute to sea level rise, but threatens to completely destroy the system of currents in the Atlantic Ocean that play a key role in shaping the planet’s climate.A system of currents in the Atlantic Ocean called the Atlantic Meridional Circulation (AMC) collects warm surface waters in the Southern Hemisphere and the tropics, transporting and distributing them in the colder waters of the Atlantic. At the same timecolder and saltier waters from the North Atlantic are moving south This circulation prevents excessive overheating of the Southern Hemisphere and prevents the formation of abnormally cold zones in the North Atlantic In addition, the AMC contributes to the balanced distribution of nutrients to support the existence of marine ecosystems.
In a recent research According to Dutch scientists from the Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research in Utrecht, the probability of complete collapse of the AMC between 2037 and 2064 is about 60-75%.
The fact is that the melting of glaciers in Greenland leads to large volumes of fresh water entering the Atlantic Ocean, which reduces the concentration of salt water and the density of powerful currents such as the Gulf Stream, which are slowing down and are at risk of stopping completely.
This trend could lead to abnormal weather in the Southern Hemisphere. A dry season characterized by large-scale fires will replace the rainy season. Conversely, heavy rains that have been going on for many months will occur during the current dry season This will primarily threaten the Amazon rainforest, which serves as the lungs of our planet.
However, abnormally cold zones will form in the North Atlantic, and they will determine the appropriate climate for Europe and North America, significantly reducing the average temperature.
An alarm bell of recent times was the event of August 14, 2021, when at one of the highest points in Greenland, near the Summit Camp research station, at an altitude of about 3 thousand meters above sea level, for the third time in less than 10 years, a positive temperature was recorded, and instead of snow, it rained for the first time in history.
Pros information According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado, about 7 billion tons of water fell on the Greenland ice sheet on Saturday, August 14, 2021 On Sunday, August 15, the glacier lost seven times more ice than the average daily value for this time of year.
According to the latest data According to researchers from the UK Met Office, the complete collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Circulation should be prevented by the upper circulation cell in the Southern Ocean, which is formed by powerful winds.
These winds alone will not allow the AMC to completely stop, but the vast majority of predictive scientific models still assume that the slowdown in circulation and Atlantic currents will be up to 80% under any scenario.
Against the backdrop of these bleak forecasts, the policies of such leading global powers as the United States, Russia, and China are particularly worrisome, as they not only fail to address the pressing environmental and climate problems of humanity, but also aim to establish control over the territories of Greenland and the Arctic in order to extract energy and minerals.
It should not be forgotten that, for example, during the Cold War, the United States had military bases in Greenland, which were located under the ice sheet Radioactive waste is still buried there, and it will certainly get into the ocean as the glaciers continue to melt.
Meanwhile, Russia is creating an extraordinary environmental threat in the Arctic region by expanding gas and oil production and accelerating the melting of the existing ice cover.
The absence of consolidated efforts to stop climate collapse on the planet threatens hundreds of millions of people who will be forced to leave the territories where they currently live over the next century.
Mostly we are talking about residents of coastal areas, but further climate change will lead to extreme living conditions in most of Europe, Asia and other continents.
Humanity has to wake up to preserve the climate models we are used to, and to start adapting to life in very harsh, extreme conditions.