The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: Urgent Immediate Action for Antarctica’s Future
Dear Diary. The Southern Hemisphere just had its warmest spring on record going into the long summer. Once again, as has been the case for the last decade, there is the threat for the Thwaites glacier loosening such that oceans worldwide will rise several feet in the matter of a couple of years. This problem and others have become so serious over the long term from all Antarctic ice melt that near 450 climate scientists have met in Australia to declare an emergency.
Here are more details from My Modern Met:
Nearly 500 Scientists Gather at Emergency Summit To Urge Immediate Action for Antarctica’s Future
By Emma Taggart on December 3, 2024
Photo: axily/Depositphotos
While the devastating effects of climate change are already being felt, hundreds of scientists recently gathered in Australia for an emergency summit to address the threatened future of Antarctica. They’re warning that the rapid ice loss in the region highlights the urgent need to act now to prevent devastating sea level rises globally.
The 2024 Australian Antarctic Research Conference, organized by the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), took place last week at the University of Tasmania in Hobart. It brought together nearly 500 polar experts and researchers from across the country who all agreed to release a warning statement.
“Nowhere on Earth is there a greater cause of uncertainty in sea-level rise projections than from East Antarctica, in Australia’s backyard,” the statement reads. “The East Antarctic Ice Sheet alone holds enough water to raise global sea levels by approximately 50 meters [164 feet] if completely melted. Implications for our coastal cities and infrastructure are immense.”
Recent studies reveal alarming changes in the area, including record-low sea ice, heatwaves soaring more than 40°C (72°F) above average, and rising instability around crucial ice shelves. The shifting ecosystems on land and at sea really highlight just how quickly this vulnerable region is dramatically changing.
Due to climate change, the global sea level has risen by up to 10.5 centimeters (over 4 inches) in the past 30 years. Antarctica holds the Earth’s largest body of ice, which is the equivalent of 58 meters (about 190 feet) of water if completely melted. The region currently loses around 17 million tonnes (more than 18 million tons) of ice every hour, and scientists claim that this rate is only accelerating.
“Runaway ice loss causing rapid and catastrophic sea-level rise is possible within our lifetimes,” the statement continues. “Whether such irreversible tipping points have already passed is unknown.”
AAPP warns that if global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, coastal cities in Australia could face a devastating 80 centimeters (31 inches) of sea level rise by 2100. Scientists who took part in the emergency summit agreed that urgent action is needed to prevent this.
Although the news seems pretty bleak, there’s still time to take action. “Our societies must set and meet targets to ‘bend the carbon curve’ as quickly as possible,” the researchers say in the statement. “Failure to rapidly reduce emissions—every year and every tonne—commits actual and future generations to greater sea-level rise.” They add, “Every fraction of a degree matters.”
Nearly 500 polar scientists gathered at an emergency summit to call for immediate action to protect Antarctica’s future.
Photo: mzphoto/Depositphotos
They warn that the rapid ice loss in the region highlights the urgent need to act now to prevent devastating sea level rises globally.
Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP): Website | YouTube
Source: Our Science, Your Future: Next Generation of Antarctic Scientists Call for Collaborative Action
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Here are more “ETs” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is some brand-new November 2024 climatology. Other items are archived on prior December posts:
Here is More Climate News from Wednesday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)
As per your intro
“500 climate scientists met in Australia”
Translation they decided to burn lots of fuel further enhancing co2 and contributing to global warming unnecessarily instead of burning no fuel and collaborating via a Zoom meeting.
Oh a free junket to pontificate while site seeing on an expense account.
Just like the COP meeting of 50,000 motoring hither and thither
All that doesn’t sound very scientific to me