Image from The New York Times

Within the expanse of the Western hemisphere, West Antarctica is experiencing massive melting of ice shelves. The region, believed to be perfectly normal, is seeing an unparalleled ice loss that is causing sea levels to rise. Scientists believe the melting ice is from a combination of warm temperatures and changes in climate patterns. This climate crisis will have dire consequences for the coastal areas globally.

As warmer temperatures become more frequent, the glaciers and ice shelves in West Antarctica melt rapidly, having vast amounts of water released into the ocean. The surge of water in the oceans is a direct result of sea levels rising. The increased volumes of water in the sea pose threats to the coastal regions. They are at risk of flooding, erosion, and habitat loss due to the sea’s increasing water volume. The ice shelves serve as crucial barriers against sea level rise by acting as support structures, keeping ice on the ground, and decreasing its flow in the ocean. However, as the ice shelves shrink and lose their ability to support the other ice structures and melt, they would escalate the rising sea levels. 

Data from NASA Global Climate Change shows that the land ice sheets in Antarctica “have been losing mass since 2002…the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica store about two-thirds of all the freshwater on Earth…meltwater coming from these ice sheets is responsible for about one-third of the global average rise in sea level since 1993.” Although most of the population knew there had been ice melting in Antarctica, no one knew it was this severe. The rising of warmer temperatures over the years has immensely affected the amount of ice meltage in West Antarctica. An estimated 150 billion tons of ice are melting off Antarctica annually on average. 

Home to the Thwaites Glacier, widely referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier,” is one of the biggest glaciers known, being compared to the size of Florida. The Doomsday Glacier” causes serious concerns as if it collapses, sea levels could increase by several feet, forcing coastal towns and islands to relocate. 

As scientists work harder to understand and address this alarming issue of rapid ice melting in West Antarctica, it becomes clear how urgent it is to lessen the effects of climate change.