OTS - The Polar Regions - The End of the Eternal Ice (part 1)
2019. November 07. 17:00
Hamburg/Kiel, 7 November, 2019 (APA/OTS) - The new "World Ocean
Review 6", published by mare in cooperation with the German Marine
Research Consortium and the Future Ocean Network in Kiel, focuses
on the dramatic climate-induced changes in the Arctic and Antarctic
and their far-reaching consequences for humans and the environment.
- The polar regions play an exceptional role in the Earth's climate
system. The almost endless snow and ice surfaces of the Arctic and
Antarctic act like a gigantic mirror and radiate up to 90 percent
of incident sunlight back into space. Because of this, they not
only slow down the warming of the Earth, but also create large
temperature differences between the cold polar regions and the warm
tropics. This disparity, in turn, drives the global wind and ocean
currents and contributes significantly to the fact that the heat
stored in the sea and in the atmosphere is distributed over large
areas of the globe and that people, animals and plants find
reliable living conditions everywhere in the world. What happens in
the remote polar regions is therefore of concern to each and every
one of us. Numerous demonstrations not only by climate activists
and worldwide Fridays for Future protests in recent months have
impressively pointed out that such reliable living conditions are
not self-evident but can only be understood as the result of a
forward-looking, intergenerational and environmentally conscious
policy.
The sixth volume of the publication "World Ocean Review" (WOR),
published with the support of the International Ocean Institute
(IOI), is therefore entitled "The Arctic and Antarctic - extreme,
climatically crucial and in crisis". It is edited by climate and
polar researchers from the German Marine Research Consortium (KDM),
the Future Ocean research network in Kiel and the magazine mare,
who are responsible for the overall concept and preparing the
scientific contents in a way that is comprehensible to the public.
As a bundling of the expertise of German marine research, the new
issue is dedicated to these two extreme and highly contrasting
regions of the Earth. The issue provides profound information on
their origin and significance for life on Earth, as well as on the
observed climatic changes and their dramatic consequences, some of
which extend far beyond the borders of the polar regions.
"Until a few years ago, the Arctic and Antarctic realms were
destinations of historical expeditions such as those of Scott or
Amundsen and home to polar bears or penguins," says Nikolaus
Gelpke, editor of "WOR", founder of the magazine mare and board
member of the International Ocean Institute (IOI). "Since the new
IPCC special report ›Ocean and Cryosphere in Climate Change‹,
however, we have known about the outstanding importance of the
polar regions for our climate future. The observed changes are
symbols for the consequences of our industrial development, the
melting of the formerly eternal ice stands for the loss of control
of our actions. Our ›WOR‹, as an excellent complement to the IPCC
special report, can hopefully help to deepen our understanding of
cause-and-effect relationships".
The Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of
the world and is now showing a whole new face. Last summer alone,
the world witnessed the widespread burning of dried out tundra
areas in Alaska and Siberia, the melting of the Greenlandic ice
sheet on its surface during a heat wave, and the shrinking of the
Arctic Ocean's sea ice cover to the second smallest residual area
since satellite measurements began. In the Antarctic, heat comes
mainly from the sea. Warm currents increasingly penetrate under the
floating ice tongues of West and East Antarctica and melt these
so-called ice shelves from below. As a result, not only do more
icebergs calve, the glaciers now also transport more ice from the
interior of Antarctica to the sea, so that their contribution to
global sea-level rise increases and the ice sheets of West and East
Antarctica thin out overall.
But what consequences do these and other climatic changes have
for the highly adapted flora and fauna of the Arctic and Antarctic?
What are the chances of survival for polar bears, walruses, polar
cod, krill and all other sea dwellers who depend on sea ice for
their foraging and breeding? How does the vegetation change on
land? "WOR 6" explains the unique adaptation strategies of polar
flora and fauna and the extent to which polar species are likely to
be able to adapt to rising air and water temperatures, dwindling
food sources and migratory competitors.
But where glaciers and sea ice are disappearing, people also
gain access to previously hidden resources and raw material
deposits. The Arctic states in particular therefore see climate
change as an opportunity to develop their northern territories
economically. One focus is on the expansion of tourist
infrastructures such as airports and berths for cruise ships,
because the worldwide demand for trips to the polar regions is
increasing - grotesquely, above all, because many nature lovers and
adventure tourists have come to the conclusion that now is the last
chance to see the ice landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic with
their own eyes. At the same time, mining and oil companies are
currently investing large sums in the exploration and extraction of
raw material deposits in the Arctic, above all in Russia. "WOR 6"
shows which expectations are attached to this industrialization,
which risks and dangers go along with it and which protection
precautions are taken. (continues)