Medicine & TechnologyThe fast melt off of ice caps caused by global warming has alarmed scientists from various parts of the globe like Canada, Denmark and Greenland.
Throughout human history, people have utilized caves for protection from the elements, as safe havens from predators, and as canvases to display beautiful works of art. Now, a group of scientists from Vanderbilt University are using caves to learn about weather patterns in the past. And what they're discovering may provide insight into our planet's future climate.
A part of Antarctica that scientists once thought to be safe from climate change is now showing signs of instability, and the loss of this ice could lead to the rising sea levels around the world.
Antarctica is a truly massive continent. At over 5 million square miles, the whole of the US could fit securely within its borders. It boasts the highest, driest, coldest, and windiest landscape of all seven continents. And the fact that it is losing ice is nothing new. It's the rate at which parts of the continent are melting that is raising new concerns.
The last intact section of one of Antarctica’s giant ice shelves is weakening fast and will likely disintegrate in the next few years, contributing to a further rise in sea levels, NASA said in a new study.
As if submersion of coastal communities by rising sea levels weren’t bad enough, scientists have recently added another frightening repercussion to climate change: the loss of species. Scientists are still quibbling over the number of species that may perish with rising temperatures, some claiming zero while others predicting a whopping 54%. In an effort to refine the predictions, Marc Urban, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, has crunched the numbers, and although his results don’t spell the end for over half the world’s species, the numbers are still frightening.