Antarctica Experiencing Greenland-Like Climate Effects: Sea Level Rise Predictions May Need Revision

The warming climate of our planet is causing effects in Antarctica that increasingly mirror those seen in the Arctic, suggesting global sea levels might rise more rapidly than earlier predictions indicated, according to Danish scientists' warning on Friday.

"For a long time, Antarctica was considered more stable compared to the Arctic. However, today's situation has dramatically shifted," stated Ruth Mottram from the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).

"Sea ice is vanishing. Temperatures are also increasing in this region. Ice streams are moving faster and meltwater is infiltrating glacier crevasses, causing them to slide more quickly toward the ocean," she explained.

Mottram cautioned that this trend is "concerning, since the southern ice masses hold significant potential for sea level rise in northern regions."

The Danish researcher and six colleagues published their findings in Nature Geoscience, discussing the "Greenlandification of Antarctica."

These scientists, who based their conclusions on satellite data and climate models, use "Greenlandification" as a framework to understand and "forecast changes in the Antarctic environment through examining well-documented and comprehended changes in Greenland."

"We utilize Greenland experiences as a kind of 'laboratory' to comprehend similar processes occurring in Antarctica," Mottram elaborated.

"Unfortunately, our observations from home are becoming increasingly applicable to Antarctica."

"The Antarctic cryosphere demonstrates a dynamic environment heavily influenced by regional atmospheric and oceanic changes, showing more similarities to Greenland than previously thought," the researchers note in their publication.

If Greenland's entire ice sheet were to melt, global sea levels would rise approximately seven meters (23 feet).

Should this happen in Antarctica, sea level rise could exceed 50 meters, according to DMI.