The Antarctic ice sheet is losing volume at a forced rate, which is contributing in a very important way to the rise in sea level on a global scale. Specifically, the area of the Amundsen Sea, in the western sector of the white continent, is the most unstable and where the largest amounts of ice are melting.
Until now, numerous studies had calculated the short-term consequences of this phenomenon, but now a new study carried out by scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany) goes further with a long-term simulation showing that the situation may already be irreversible.
According to this research, instability in the Amundsen Sea can cause the entire ice sheet to melt and pour water into the ocean, raising sea levels by 3 meters across the planet. It is possible, the study authors believe, that we are witnessing the beginning of a period of prolonged disintegration of the ice into the ocean.
The future evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet represents the main concern in sea level projections for the next few centuries. Recent satellite observations and high-resolution simulations already pointed to the beginning of a period of instability in the Amundsen Sea, caused by the prolonged thaw on the southern continent in recent decades.
According to the predictions of the experts from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the prospects are not optimistic at all, because if the results they have obtained at the scale of millennia are considered, the sea level will rise one meter in the next 2,000 years, and it will arrive to 3 meters in about 10,000 years , although the process may be even faster.
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