Climate change is having serious consequences on glaciers around the world. The increase in global temperatures produced by greenhouse gas emissions at the hands of man, is causing the melting of the great polar ice caps around the world.
To reduce the impacts of climate change in the polar regions, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has launched a campaign to improve observation and prediction of effects on glaciers. In this way, future environmental risks can be reduced and economic activities at the poles can be promoted.
Study of the environmental risks of the poles
A network of about 200 scientists intends to study carefully the environmental risks of climate change at the poles over the next two years. The aim is to improve weather forecasting systems and the conditions of sea ice and Antarctica. These are the least-known regions in the world, so it is vitally important to understand how climate change and global warming affect these areas. Furthermore, the impact of these changes could be decisive for the lives of many species, as mentioned in the article on the mammals and birds that will adapt best.
The United Nations meteorological agency will establish specific observation periods at the poles to increase monitoring and observation of the effects of climate change at the poles. The Argentine Antarctic Institute and the Alfred Wegener Institute of Germany, among other partners from around the world, will also participate in this surveillance and observation.
The goal is to study winter and summer of 2018 at the North Pole, and on the other hand, other experts will study winter of 2019 at the South Pole. The 200 scientists will separate to study in depth the two poles of the Earth.
Objectives of the plan
The main objectives of this research plan are to reduce environmental risks at the poles, produced mostly by climate change and the increase in global average temperatures, and increase the capacity to respond to disasters that may occur. in the next years. For the study of all these variables that may affect the stability of the poles, it must be taken into account that there is more and more commercial traffic in the polar latitudes. That is to say, maritime traffic causes certain impacts on the stability of polar ecosystems. For this reason, maritime traffic is a very important variable to consider when studying predictions of the effects on the poles. For more information on how global warming affects different ecosystems, you can consult the article on deserts threatened by global warming.
Scientists have emphasized how important it is for us to be able to better know and understand the relationship and connection that exists between the poles and the rest of the world. This is important since it is the poles that determine global temperatures. If not for them, and at the rate that the concentration of greenhouse gases on the planet is increasing, global average temperatures would be much higher. In addition, scientists rely on observation systems based on models developed with ice levels far superior to traditional weather and climate prediction systems. In this sense, observation of the poles due to climate change it's crucial.
New facilities
To begin with observing and predicting the effects of climate at the poles, experts prepare to install new stations that can coordinate research methods. Among the new stations that have to be placed, we find the deployment of buoys, the launching of probe balloons, the use of satellites and aircraft.
The focus will be on sea ice conditions along the Northern Sea Route and in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, and how the sea interacts with the atmosphere. This will allow us to observe glacial retreat and how it affects other environmental conditions that make up ecosystems, such as the El Niño phenomenon, which affects temperatures around the world. Essentially, the plant adaptation to climate change should also be considered in these investigations.
