“The violence that exists in the human heart is also manifest in the symptoms of illness that we see in the earth, the water, the air and in living things.” (Pope Francis, on climate change). Many studies have found that the Antarctica’s giant ice is warming and melting faster than its expected, but the legitimate question is what is driving Antarctica’s meltdown? Antarctica is the earth’s southernmost continent and geographically it’s in the south pole. Antarctica is one of the coldest, windiest and driest continents on the earth. The continent of Antarctica has one of the highest elevations of all continents and most of its land is desert. According to Insidecliatenews “The reason why Antarctica’s ice melting is due to shifting winds driven by global warming.” However, there are other factors and components that do also contribute major problems to the continent, such as burning of fossil fuels, and deforestation.
Definitely, there is no doubt that Antarctica’s ice is melting faster than its predicted, because of man-made environmental problems as well natural disasters that acquire now and then. All of us are aware of that our planet is becoming uninhabitable and extremely warmer. To better understand the relationship between global warming and Antarctica’s ice, it’s also important to define the meaning of global warming and how it corresponds with fossil fuels and industrial productions. “Global warming occurs when CO2 and other air pollutant and greenhouses gases collect in the atmosphere.” Amanda MacMillan from NRDC. Global warming is defined or related to many aspects such when the climate changes and the surface of our planet becomes hot. Global warming has devastating & long-lasting consequences for our planet. The measurable effects of global warming are notable. For instance, sea levels rise due to melting ice from sheets in Antarctica, earth surface warming faster and most of these dilemmas are caused by humans’ activity in a essence of burning fossil fuels.
Deforestation is also another leading origin of global warming and there is a link between Antarctica’s Ice sheet and deforestation. Despite all the great advantages forest gives us, such as protection, capturing greenhouse gases like CO2 and to prevent warming our planet. Somehow, we still strive to deforest trees and create more emission. As more trees are cleared or burnt, more emission and carbon are released into the atmosphere. Trees store a lot of carbon and by deforesting trees we’re adding more problem to the existing problem. To recall, the reason why Antarctica’s ice melts is due to shifting wind caused by global warming.
Despite all the causes of Antarctica’s ice meltdown. Regardless of Global warning, fossil fuels, and deforestation, still the meltdown will continue unless an effective resolution are implemented to protect the planet and reduce global warming. We have already perceived the outcomes of the ice melting driven by global warming. Some of the outcome we perceived are hurricanes and typhoons.
MLA Citation
Rice, Doyle. “Antarctic Ice Melting 6 Times Faster than It Did in ’80s.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 15 Jan. 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/01/14/climate-change-antarctic-ice-melting-accelerating/2575410002/.
MacMillan, Amanda. “Global Warming 101.” NRDC, 30 July 2019, www.nrdc.org/stories/global-warming-101.
McKibben, Bill. “How Extreme Weather Is Shrinking the Planet.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 9 July 2019, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/26/how-extreme-weather-is-shrinking-the-planet.
Abdiwahab Ali 