Antarctica faces a catastrophic cascade of extreme environmental events as global warming increases, which will affect climate across the world, scientists have warned in a report commissioned by the UK government.
Under the obligations of the Antarctic Treaty that came into force in 1961 and its subsequent 1998 protocol on environmental protection, signatories must protect the region from the “considerable stress and damage” it faces from accelerating ice melting and rising temperatures, the scientists said.
“Nations must understand that by continuing to explore, extract and burn fossil fuels anywhere in the world, the environment of Antarctica will become ever more affected in ways inconsistent with their pledge,” said Martin Siegert, glaciology professor at the University of Exeter and lead author of the study. “I’m staggered by the amount of change we’ve seen already in the past few years.”