The Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is part of the continental ice sheet covering West Antarctica on the side of the Trans-antarctic Mountains in the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by the Ronne Ice Shelf on the North, by the Ross Ice Shelf on the Southeast, and outlet glaciers that drain into the Amundsen Sea on the Southwest. A remnant of the ice age, it is larger than Mexico and makes up 10 percent of the estimated 25.4 million cubic kilometers Antarctic ice sheet. Should it break up due to global warming, which is feared could happen sooner than anticipated, the sea level could rise by 12 feet or more.
The Western Antarctic Ice Sheet is just one region. Ice in other regions could melt too and over time the world’s coastlines will be submerged in water along with many great cities old and new. During a climatic period around 125,000 years ago, the sea level had risen to 20 to 30 feet higher compared to today’s sea level.
For half a century, scientists have been monitoring the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and had assumed that the worst effects of climate change would be realized over a span of hundreds, and even thousands of years. But new research suggests that the ice is melting at a lot faster rate than anticipated. According to a study published on March by the journal, Nature, continued high emissions of greenhouse gases would cause the disintegration of the ice sheets within decades. This would in turn cause the sea level to rise up to 3 feet by the end of this century. Beyond 2100, the situation would grow far worse as the sea could rise more than a pace of a foot per decade by the middle of the 22nd century.
While it might be possible that the actual situation could turn out far less catastrophic than anticipated, the fact that this disaster scenario has been brought to light strongly suggests that if proper measures to decelerate climate change are not put into place and strictly observed, then humanity will suffer immeasurable loss and damage. The melting of sea ice and the consequential rise in sea levels is just but one among many disaster scenarios resulting from climate change.