Final Blog Post
In 2006, Al Gore’s publication of An Inconvenient Truth garnered mass support for the global climate change movement. However, although the public acknowledges the impact of climate change, its consequences seem distant and gradual to many people. This is not the case for the residents of South Florida and the scientists studying West Antartica’s ice sheets. The impact of rising sea levels in these two locations emphasize the very tangible and widespread effects of climate change as its tides literally approach our doorstep.
In South Florida, flooded streets have become a common occurrence. Regarded as the “ground-zero of sea rise,” West Florida suffers because of its low elevation topography and its limestone foundation. The low overall elevation makes the region among the cities most susceptible to storm surges in the nation. Florida’s limestone base is filled with holes which are, in turn, filled with water. Furthermore, South Florida once existed as continuous wetland (known as the Everglades), circumvented today by a complex water system consisting of pump stations, canals, and other water control structures. This system works by maintaining a dynamic equilibrium where more freshwater pushes out to prevent less saltwater from pushing in. Unfortunately, as the sea levels rise and the saltwater front pushes onward, Florida witnesses its coastal regions being overtaken by saltwater and its drinking aquifers becoming salty. From another angle, the water table also rises, causing a reduction of stormwater capture and more extreme rainfall conditions. Regardless of restoration plans, South Florida will most likely be inundated in the future, partially due to the rapidly melting ice sheet in West Antartica’s Amundsen Sea.
At the other end of the Earth, West Antartica’s Ice Sheet has fallen into irreversible decline. Most of the ice sheet is built on a bed below sea level, which makes the point of attachment between the bed and the ice sheet (grounding line) vulnerable to warm water delivered by ocean currents. If that wasn’t problematic enough, the bed also slopes down such that parts of the bed lie more than a mile below sea level, making it even easier for ocean water to separate the ice from its grounding line. A specific part of the West Antartic Ice Sheet, known as the Amundsen Sea region, faces the greatest risk because of its small ice shelves and its lack of grounding obstructions (e.g. islands). Should the ice sheet in the Amundsen Sea region melt completely, global sea levels will see a rise of 4 feet.
In a process known as thermal expansion, the higher sea temperatures of recent years also cause water to expand and infiltrate the ice to a greater extent.
Although Florida and West Anartica are seeing the extreme consequences of rising sea level right now, coastal land regions around the world should prepare themselves. Already, large storms are creating more destructive impacts with their powerful storm surges, as was the case with Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy, and Hurricane Irene in America. People who inhabit low-lying islands and flooding-vulnerable areas may have to evacuate and lose their homes to the unforgiving water.
The only way to put off this impending doom is to reduce our carbon emissions, but even then, as with the inevitable loss of the Amundsen Sea glaciers, sea levels will probably increase anyway. Still, as inhabitants of this planet, we have a choice if that sea level rise will be small or large. Instead of passively observing the environment worsen, we must reduce our carbon footprint in the ways we know how (see here for tips to reduce your footprint). Starting from something as small as biking to school rather than driving, every decision matters if we want to stay afloat.
Sources
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/21/the-siege-of-miami
https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/news/antarctic-ice-sheet-20140512/
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-sea-level-rise/
