Rising heat from the ocean is causing Antarctica to melt from below - potentially accelerating weather events, study claims

Key Points:

• A new study reveals that Antarctica's ice shelves are melting from below due to rising ocean heat, driven by the movement of warm circumpolar deep water (CDR), which threatens to accelerate global sea level rise and climate impacts.
• Researchers combined decades of ship data with continuous measurements from Argo probes to create a 40-year record, confirming that warm water is increasingly reaching under the ice shelves and destabilizing them by exposing ice to heat.
• The study highlights that changes in ocean circulation around Antarctica, potentially caused by both natural and human-induced climate change, are allowing warmer waters to replace cold, dense water that once protected the ice sheets.
• This warming threatens to disrupt critical ocean currents like the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is already weakening and could slow by up to 59% by 2100, potentially triggering severe climate consequences such as sea level rise and drought.
• While some public figures have recently downplayed climate risks, scientists warn that the Southern Ocean's role in regulating global heat and carbon storage means these changes could have far-reaching and catastrophic effects worldwide.