Assessing the Antarctic Environment from a Climate Change Perspective: An Integrated Approach

373 Pages·2022·12.16 MB·English

by  Neloy Khare

Earth and Environmental Sciences Library
Neloy Khare Editor
Assessing
the Antarctic
Environment from
a Climate Change
Perspective
An Integrated Approach
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Neloy Khare
Editor
Assessing the Antarctic
Environment from a Climate
Change Perspective
An Integrated Approach
Editor
NeloyKhare
GovernmentofIndia
MinistryofEarthSciences
NewDelhi,India
ISSN2730-6674 ISSN2730-6682 (electronic)
EarthandEnvironmentalSciencesLibrary
ISBN978-3-030-87077-5 ISBN978-3-030-87078-2 (eBook)
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Foreword
Antarctica is the last great untouched wilderness. Antarctica’s frozen continent is
an incredible continent of stunning and alien beauty with a rich history of adven-
ture,exploration,anddiscovery.Itisknownfordiversifieduniquenessandisakey
tounderstandinghowanthropogenicactivitiesadverselyimpacttheworld’sclimate
and carry an associated impact on it. Indubitably, Antarctica is also essential for
science because of its profound effect on the Earth’s climate and ocean systems
which has also revealed much about the impact of human activity on the natural
world.
TheloomingdangerofglobalwarmingonAntarcticaisnotconfinedbutspreading
fast across the continent, long thought to be untouched by warming. But now, the
glaciers and ice shelves in this frigid region are showing signs of melting. Such
unprecedenteddevelopmentportendsdramaticrisesinsealevelsinthiscenturyand
beyond. The collapse of the Larsen C ice shelf warns us against the Antarctic’s
fragile environment. The subtle climatic changes may primarily pose dire global
consequences because collapsing ice shelves prompt the glaciers behind them to
retreatmorequickly,causingfurthersea-levelrise,thusincreasingperil,especially
forislandcountries.
SomeofthechangesAntarcticaisfacingarealreadyirreversible,andthesituation
mayturnouttobedevastatingiftheissuesarenottimelymanagedthroughappro-
priatestrategies.Totacklethepotentialimpactofclimate,itbecomesimperativeto
preparefuturisticclimatechangetrendstopreparehumankindinalargerperspec-
tive.Itnecessitatesanin-depthassessmentoftheAntarcticEnvironmentthroughan
integratedapproach.
Overfourdecades,IndiahasbeenactivelypursuingAntarcticresearchcommen-
suratewithitsscientificstrengthandglobalvisibility.Aparticularfocushasbeenpaid
towardsclimatechange.Thepresentbook,AssessingtheAntarcticEnvironmentfrom
Climate Change perspective: An Integrated Approach, provides a comprehensive
overviewofAntarcticEnvironmentalchangesinspaceandtimeandassessesclimate
changescenariosinthepresentcontextglobalwarming.Itisaptlybroughtoutwith
eighteendedicatedchapters,whereeachchapterhasitsspecificsignificance.
v
vi Foreword
ThebookbeginswithDhanasreeJayaram’sdetailedaccountoncurrentgeopolit-
icalissuesarisingoutofongoingenvironmentalshiftduetounfavourableactivities
elsewhere, causing damage to the icy continent’s pristine nature requiring a firm
committedandtransparentAntarcticGovernance.DastidarandKhareusedthedata
obtainedfromthewebofscienceandanalysedvarioustrendsandpatternsfromthe
scientificliteratureonAntarcticClimateChangescience.Suchanalysessignificantly
impactthedirectionofthepresentresearchtohelpunderstandclimatechangeand
variability.Subsequently,adetailedassessmentismadebyChoudharyandKhareon
howclimatechangeovertheAntarcticandtheSouthernOceanimpactstheglobal
climatesystem.Gleaningcluesdrawnfromthemarinesedimentaryrecords.Singh
et al. illustriously elaborated Cenozoic Evolution of Antarctic Ice sheet, Circum
AntarcticCirculationandAntarcticclimate.
TounderstandtheAntarcticregion’sclimatescenarios,afirmunderstandingofthe
pastclimaticevolutionisexcitingandakeyfactor.Babaetal.studiedthevariationsin
thecosmogenicradionuclides.Theyreconstructedtheclimaticconditionsandglacial
history over the DronningMaudland region. Whereas’ Shrivastava et al. utilised
yet another proxy (Terrestrial Diamicts and Lacustrine Sediments) to illuminate
LateQuaternaryClimateChangeinSchirmacherRegion,EastAntarctica.Itiswell
corroboratedwithGovilandMazumder’sfocusedreviewonlacustrinesignaturesof
thepalaeoclimaticconditions.Glacial-interglacialpaleoenvironmentalrecordshave
beenretrievedfromlakesedimentsofSchirmacherOasis,EastAntarctica,byWarier
etal.
Onthecontrary,NutrientcyclingandproductivityinAntarcticlakeshavebeen
detailedbyChoudharyetal.Incontrast,theChemicalandisotopiccharacterisation
oflakesintheLarsemannHills,EastAntarctica,hasbeenaddressedbyReshmietal.
Gwaletal.studiedtheeffectofIonosphericscintillationandobservedthelossof
lock-inGPSsignals.FurthertheeffectofIonosphericScintillationonthepositional
error and loss of lock of GPS Signal have also been investied in details by Gwal
et al. Towards understanding biological response to ongoing climate changes over
theAntarcticregion,PandeandKuppusamyhighlightedthattherapidchangesinthe
physicalenvironmentoftheAntarcticandtheSouthernOceanaffectmarinelifeatall
trophiclevels,fromtheprimarypreyspecies(zooplanktonincludingAntarcticKrill)
tomesopredators(likesquids)totoppredatorssuchasmarinemammalsandseabirds.
TheyalsopostulatedthattheSeabirdpopulationsacrosstheglobearethreatenedwith
human-inducedchanges.Long-termmonitoringprogramshavehighlightedexciting
trends,includingforeseenthreatsandthedecliningstatusofseabirdsworldwide.
Similarly, Nayaka and Rai have examined the response of Antarctic lichen to
climatechange.Theirevaluationwasprimarilybasedontheevidencefromnatural
gradientsandtemperatureenchantment.Simultaneously,Singhetal.foundahigher
PigmentSynthesisrateinAntarcticPlantsasanadaptivesurvivalstrategyunderU.V.
radiation.
Catherine et al. have provided an overview of Antarctica’s Geoscience studies.
In contrast, the Antarctic region’s seismogenesis and seismic potential have been
assessed for the future comprehensive study by Mishra. On the contrary, Sunil
et al. demonstrated the Antarctic plate’s new kinematics using GPS and GRACE
data.
Foreword vii
Understandingisacontinuousprocess,sotheScientificadvancementsinAntarctic
Science may pose a more significant database to attend to challenging scientific
questions. It requires enhanced monitoring, long-ranged time series climate data,
efficientmodelsandstronginternationalcollaborationstohelpunderstandAntarctic
climates’evolution.
This book aptly consolidates recent scientific findings and insights related to
theongoingclimatechangeinandaroundtheAntarcticregionthroughanintegrated
approach.Thisbookwillactasareadyreferencetoallavidresearchersandstudents.
ThisbookwillbeagoodsourceofinformationabouttheAntarcticclimateand
actasareferenceforstudents,professionalsandresearchers.
April2021 A.E.Muthunayagam
FormerSecretary,Department
ofOceanDevelopment
GovernmentofIndia
Thiruvananthapuram,India
Preface
Over 100 million years ago, Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana.
Gondwana gradually broke apart with passing time, and Antarctica in its present
situationwasformedaround25millionyearsago,owingtotheopeningoftheDrake
PassagebetweenitandSouthAmerica.Thevastfrozenlandmassatthesouthernmost
partoftheplanetismorethanjustspectacular icingworldwide.TheAntarcticice
deflectssomeofthesun’sraysawayfromtheEarth,keepingtemperaturesliveable.
Itcouldbevitalforoursurvivaltoo.
Historically, the first confirmed sighting of mainland Antarctica was recorded
onJanuary27,1820.Antarctica’sdiscoveryisattributedtotheRussianexpedition
led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. They discovered
aniceshelfatPrincessMarthaCoast,subsequentlyknownastheFimbulIceShelf.
Thiscontinentcarriesmanysuperlativeslikeitholdsmostoftheworld’sfreshwater
butremainsadesert.Antarcticausedtobeaswarmasanyothertropicalplace.The
Antarctic,whichhasactivevolcanoesandseveralsubglaciallakes,hasnotimezone.
Owing to ongoing global warming, the Antarctic Peninsula has become one
of Earth’s most rapidly warming areas. The high ice sheet and the polar loca-
tion make Antarctica a powerful heat sink that strongly affects the climate of the
wholeEarth.TheAntarcticicesheetcontainssufficienticetoraiseworldwidesea
levelbymorethan60metersifmeltedcompletely.ThroughAntarctica,wecanunder-
standtheEarth’spast,present,andfuture.Italsoexhibitsaplatformtounderstand
andvalueourplanet.TheicesheetsovertheAntarcticregionalsoholdsoverhalf-
million-yearsoldclimaticchangesignatures.Themajorthreatstothispristineregion
areclimatechangewhichisthegreatestlong-termthreattothearea,increasedfishing
pressureandillegalfishing,marinepollution,persistentorganicpollutants(POPs),
andinvasivespecies.ItisnowafactthatAntarcticaanditssurroundingwatersare
underpressurefromavarietyofforcesthatarealreadytransformingthearea.The
mostimmediatethreatsareregionalwarming,oceanacidification,andseaiceloss,all
linkedtogloballevelsofcarbondioxide.EnvironmentalimpactsinAntarcticaoccur
at a range of scales. Global warming, ozone depletion, and global contamination
haveplanet-wideconsequences.TheseaffectAntarcticaatthemostsignificantscale.
Fishingandhuntinghavemorelocalizedimpactsbutstill,havethepotentialtocause
ix
x Preface
region-wide effects. Indubitably, if all the ice covering Antarctica, Greenland, and
mountainglaciersworldwideweretomelt,thesealevelwouldriseabout70meters.
Theoceanwouldcoverallthecoastalcities,andthelandareawouldshrinksignifi-
cantly.However,alltheiceisnotgoingtomelt.Altogether,GreenlandandAntarc-
ticahavelost6.4trilliontonsoficesincethe1990s.Theresultingmeltwaterboosted
globalsealevelsby0.7inches.Therefore,itisessentialbutvitaltounderstandthe
environmentalconditionsvis-a-vistheimpactofglobalclimatechangeonthisicy
continent.
The present book Assessing the Antarctic Environment from Climate Change
perspective: An Integrated Approach attempts to address various facets of the
climatechangebeingwitnessedovertheAntarcticregion.Thebookbeginswiththe
Geopolitics,EnvironmentalChangeandAntarcticGovernanceablyhighlightedby
DhanasreeJayaram.AlthoughtheAntarcticTreaty(AT)isconsideredasuccessful
exampleofsciencediplomacy,ascountrieshavesetasidetheirterritorialclaimsand
the continent is a nuclear-free zone by shifting focus to scientific cooperation, its
futureremainsuncertainwiththesedevelopments.Sciencediplomacyalwaysgoes
hand in hand with geopolitics. The AT that reflects Cold War geopolitics needs to
be modified to represent present-day geopolitical realities for it to be enduring. A
transformative approach to Antarctic governance (including the Southern Ocean),
especially in terms of its resources, needs to be adopted. This chapter is followed
bydetaileddataanalysesobtainedfromthewebofsciencedealingwiththeclimate
change-related research over Antarctica by world’s researchers by Dastidar and
Khare. Their efforts observe peculiar trends and patterns in the climate change
researchsuggestingpriorityforclimatechangeresearchsincethe1970s.Choudhary
andKharehaveaddressedtheclimatechangeovertheAntarcticandtheSouthern
Oceananditsimpactandbearingontheglobalclimatesystem.Theyadvocatedfora
thoroughunderstandingandknowledgeofthecausesandimpactsofclimatechange
andthedurationandratesofchange,requiringtheintegrationofobservationaland
modellingknowledgefromallEarthsystem-basedscientificdisciplines.
In a significant manner, Singh et al. put forth the evolution of the Antarctic
Ice sheet, Circum Antarctic Circulation, and Antarctic climate during Cenozoic
by gleaning clues from marine sedimentary records. This chapter ably covers the
geological evidence for the origin and evolution of the Antarctic Ice sheet, which
primarilyincludesmarinesedimentsdepositedfromsoutherntolowerlatitudesand
summarizescrucialresearchregardingtheoriginanddevelopmentoftheAntarctic
IceSheet(AIS)andofferssomefuturedirectionsforresearch.
While Baba et al. utilized cosmogenic radionuclides to reconstruct the glacial
history of the Dronning Maudland region of East Antarctica, this chapter delib-
erates on the comprehensive outline of DML, basics of cosmogenic radionuclide
and its application, and major glacial events from DML. Further, meltwater pulse
due to deglaciation of EAIS and evidence related to the marine isotope stages are
discussedtounderstandtheimpactofdeglaciationontheglobalocean.Thisregion
shows sparse or no evidence of ice thickening during the last glacial maximum
(LGM). Field observations and ice core models show that the ice sheet’s interior
parts,theicedome,werepossibly100mlowerduringLGMthanthepresent.Onthe