Context:

• The rapid melting of West Antarctica’s ice sheet due to warm waters around it is now unavoidable, no matter how much carbon emissions are cut, according to a new study.

Warming in the Amundsen Sea, West Antarctica

• To conduct the analysis, the scientists have used a high-resolution computer model of the Amundsen Sea to provide the most comprehensive assessment of warming in West Antarctica to date. 
• Scientists  have used the model to run many different simulations of the 21st century, totalling over 4,000 years of ocean warming and ice-shelf melting in the Amundsen Sea.

Key Findings of Study

• Ocean warming and ice-shelf melting in the 1.5°C scenario is statistically the same as in a mid-range scenario, which is closer to what existing pledges to reduce fossil fuel use over the coming decades would produce.
  • This will most likely lead to an increased sea level rise, which will affect coastal communities across the world, including in India.

• Melting of Ice Sheets: There are various processes through which ice sheets melt. One of them is when warm ocean waters melt ice shelves — the edges of an ice sheet which floats on the ocean.Even under a best-case scenario of limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels, water in West Antarctica will continue to get warmer three times faster than in the 20th century, leading to an increased melting of the region’s ice sheet.
• Sea-level rise: The melting West Antarctic ice sheet is just one contributor to sea level rise, which is just one impact of climate change.
• Climate Change Impact: Some impacts of climate change can no longer be avoided, and substantial ice loss in West Antarctica is probably one of them.
  • But, climate change is not all or nothing, and there are many other impacts which we can still avoid or limit: like the loss of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, or the severity of heatwaves, droughts, and extreme rainfall.

News Source: The Indian Express

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