Study Predicts Antarctica Ice Melt if All Fossil Fuels Are Burned
By Justin Gillis Sept. 11, 2015
Summary: The
melting causes the ocean to rise 10 times faster, because of the actions we are
committing. This is very bad, because it put human society in chaos. The rest
of the Earth’s land ice, including Antarctica, would melt and this can expand
warming ocean waters up to 200 feet. A sea level rise of 200 feet can put the U.S.
and some other continents and parts of the coastal Asia under water. Also, many
cities would be lost as well including Miami, London, Tokyo, and etc. Climate
scientists have assumed that countries know the risk of continuing burning
fossil fuels. Even though, they have been saying that for a long time and the
political efforts of limiting the burning isn’t productive. Scientists were so
curious about the worst-scenarios that can happen due to Ice Melting and so
major advances have been made in the analysis of the huge ice sheets covering Antarctica
and Greenland. They have chose to use one of these analyses to be able to
attempt of the future consequences of burning fuels. Experts believe that major
cities can be protected, but it’ll cost trillions of dollars. Ice sheets are
sensitive when it comes to small changes in the Earth’s average temperature.
But when it comes to human emissions, it can produce a huge change. Over the years Antarctica’s ice sheet has
been assumed to be stable for a long time, but now it’s becoming weak. The
amount of fossil fuels that are burn can only estimate how much ice is going melt.
If we continue to burn fossil fuels by about the middle of the 22nd
century can destroy the world’s land ice.
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Source: The New York Times
Reflection: What I thought about the article is that I didn't know that ice was melting faster than usual. That all of the melted ice has gone to the ocean and causing it to expand. This is bad, because it can affect where we live. Causing countries to over flood and we can die from illness that the bacteria is spread by the water. Also, ice melting can cause many animals to become extinct that depend on ice/cold areas.
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