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How Amery Ice Shelf will protect us from Global Warming?

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa has come out with a study predicting that there would be a 24% increase in the expansion of the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) boundaries in Antarctica by 2021 and another 24 per cent by 2026 from its 2016 positions. In this article we will see what is Amery Ice Shelf, where it is? And how it impact us?


So what is Amery Ice Shelf (AIS)?

Situated at the head of Prydz Bay between the Lars Christensen Coast and Ingrid Christensen Coast, the Amery Ice Shelf is a broad ice shelf in Antarctica. The name “Cape Amery” was given to a coastal angle mapped on February 11, 1931. It is part of Mac. Robertson Land. The Amery Ice Shelf is one of the largest glacier drainage basins in the world, located, at about 70ºS Latitude, 70ºE Longitude on the east coast of Antarctica. So the next question comes in our minds that what is Ice Shelves? Let’s find out.

The floating sheets of ice in the oceans is called ‘ice shelves’. It plays an important role in maintaining the stability of a glacier. Actually, Ice shelves connect a glacier to the landmass. Stability of a glacier, why it is important to maintain it?

We all know the impact of greenhouse gasses in our lives. These gasses traps the outgoing long-wave radiation emitted by the earth’s surface and create a heating effect. These gasses act as a glasshouse and helps in maintaining the planet’s temperature at an appropriate level to sustain life. After industrialization, there has been a rapid increase in the emission of the greenhouse gasses, resulting global warming. You can read about Ozone Layer here. There is no doubt that global warming will cause melting of glaciers and there will be rise in the sea level. The rate at which today glaciers are disappearing is alarming, and scientists have estimated that there will be a rise of 3 meters in the average sea level by the end of this century. The ice sheet mass balance, sea stratification, and bottom water formation are important factors for the balancing of a glacier. Latent and sensible heat processes are also very important in maintaining stability of the glaciers. The insulation of ice shelves from atmospheric forcing is depends on a temperature gradient that the ocean cavity beneath the ice shelves provides. It is the pressure exerted by the ice shelves upon the ocean cavity that determines this temperature gradient hence maintaining the stability of the glaciers. Now let’s understand the importance of this study.

Significance of the study

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research NCPOR observations revealed a critical cooling of the sea surface temperature, resulting in an advancement of the ice shelf by 88 per cent in the past 15 years. These changes is somehow a good news for humans because this would contribute in a major way to climate change.

 

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