How much sea levels will rise is one of the greatest uncertainties surrounding the future of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Find out below what the key processes are, what research priorities are and how policymakers play a critical role in tackling this looming challenge.

What the Future Holds for the Antarctic Ice Sheet

The biggest ice mass on Earth—the Antarctic Ice Sheet—is like a sleeping giant. The ice is now a focus of research as scientists try to determine how much its melting could lead to increases in sea levels over the next few decades and centuries, be it by five meters or two meters or less.

The Antarctic ice sheet is a dynamic environment, and it is difficult to predict how the ice will behave. Yin; There is much to go wrong in that stomach-nervewrackigly complex suite of interactions and feedbacks on ice sheet growth and shrinkage, making it hard to pin down uncertainties. If breached, these could unleash huge rises in sea levels from Antarctica.

These or other often difficult-to-detect mostly sub-nanometer behavior components (see below) are identified by scientists as key areas for future research to lessen this much-required-and-effective but needs-huge-improvements. These include high-resolution measurements of sensitive areas, improved climate and ice sheet models, and better data that capture physical processes at the right scales; all are needed to develop a robust picture of the behavior of the ice sheet (the sheets) and their impact on sea-level rise.

From Another Angle Sea-Level Rise is Worse for Those Who Can Least Afford It

It is not uniformly distributed on the Earth due to factors such as gravitational, rotation and deformational influences.

More: Antarctica is losing 9 gigatonnes a year of its mass, causing some parts of the continent to have lower sea levels. But the resulting loss of ice mass and redistribution of water in the ocean also put an effect on how Earth rotates, altering its shape, etc which is one another cause for spatial differences in sea-level rise.

The distribution of higher sea-level rise across regions complicates the work of policymakers and decision-makers, who will need to create coast planning policy, coastal infrastructure guidelines, and adaptation strategies that reflect different regional impact. This will be necessary to improve the overall research quality, and hence, accelerate progress in reducing the level of uncertainty associated with this complex field.

Conclusion

The fate of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and its influence on sea-level rise is a major concern for the international community. Investing in research to decrease the risk of the ice sheet’s response (whatever it will be) makes sense, so that policymakers and decision-makers can better decide how they want to respond and protect their citizens and infrastructure from future sea level rise. Such uncharted territories can be navigated only be integrating and cooperating at an inter-disciplinary level, across the globe to build a more resilient future for all.