Chile's huge glacier collapsed: it fell into a valley of more than 200 meters, raising white "smoke"
Over the years, we have often talked about climate warming. Maybe some friends think that the so-called climate warming may be a "hoax", but in fact, many conditions have occurred on the earth, and the emergence of these conditions is the evidence of climate warming. For example, glaciers melt. Under normal circumstances, due to the four seasons of the earth, the temperature is relatively high in summer, and glaciers will indeed melt, but when winter comes, the glaciers will recover, so theoretically it is in a dynamic balance. state without losing many glaciers. However, under the background of climate warming, although the glaciers in winter will recover, because the overall temperature is higher, there will be more glaciers, and year after year, the more glaciers will disappear, that is, Said that the glaciers will be less and less. As the glaciers continue to melt, a series of problems may also occur, such as the collapse of ice shelves and the collapse of glaciers. Chile's huge glacier collapsed
When it comes to glaciers, we first think of glaciers in the north and south poles, because the glaciers in the north and south poles The temperature is very low, and it is in a state of ice and snow all year round. In fact, in addition to the North and South Pole, there are many regions where there are huge glaciers. For example, the Patagonia Ice Sheet at the southern tip of the South American continent is the second largest continuous ice sheet in the world outside the polar regions. The entire Patagonia Ice Sheet can be divided into two huge ice sheets, South and North, of which the South Patagonia Ice Sheet covers an area of about 13,000 square kilometers, while the North Patagonia Ice Sheet covers an area of about 4,000 square kilometers. , with a total area of about 17,000 square kilometers. This is the largest ice sheet in the southern hemisphere other than the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Research shows that 10,000 years ago, the earth was still at the end of the last ice age, which was once covered by huge glaciers. Later, as the temperature of the earth rose, the melting rate of these glaciers accelerated, coupled with the decrease in rainfall caused by climate change, the replenishment of ice and snow on the glaciers also decreased, so the glaciers began to retreat. Especially in recent years, the rate of melting of the Patagonian Ice Sheet is quite alarming. These glaciers are disappearing at a rate of 43 cubic kilometers per year, which is faster than the rate of melting of glaciers in other parts of the earth. As the glaciers disappeared, much of the Patagonian Ice Sheet has become thinner, and even glaciers have collapsed. Quirat National Park, located in the Aisen region of southern Chile, has part of the South Patagonian Icefield, and now some glaciers have suddenly collapsed. When the glacier collapsed, there was just someone nearby, and it happened to be seen by witnesses. To and photographed the moment when the glacier fell into a valley more than 200 meters deep. From the shared pictures, we can see that when the glacier collapses, it flows straight down like a waterfall, and when it splashes down into the valley, it also raises white "smoke". This scene is too rare, so everyone at the scene exclaimed. The researchers said that the collapse of the glaciers in the Patagonia Ice Sheet this time is actually a manifestation of climate warming. This year, there have been abnormally high temperatures of up to 15 ° C in this area. In addition, the tropical warm air has returned. This area brings a lot of rainfall, which is also responsible for the glacial collapse of the Patagonian Ice Sheet. "Doomsday Glacier" is at risk
Similar problems of melting and retreating of glaciers exist in glaciers in all regions of the world. After all, climate change The warming affects the entire region, but the temperature rise varies in different regions, and the rate of glaciers melting varies. As one of the places with the most glaciers in the world, Antarctica has naturally become the focus of scientists' attention. Over the years, when scientists have studied glaciers in Antarctica, they have found that the melting rate of glaciers in Antarctica is also quite alarming. Among them, the status of Thwaites Glacier, known as the "doomsday glacier", is not optimistic and is in danger. According to a paper published in "Nature Geoscience", scientists have drawn the historical trajectory of the glacier's melting to speculate on the future evolution trend of the glacier, and found that under the influence of climate warming, the "doomsday glacier" The base of Thwaites Glacier, which is being eroded by warm currents, is now rapidly melting at a rate of about 2.1 kilometers per year, twice the rate scientists observed 10 years ago. In some previous studies, researchers have found that a protective ice shelf on Thwaites Glacier is likely to collapse within five years, and if the ice shelf does, it will exacerbate the instability of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Thwaites Glacier is the widest glacier in the world, and if the glacier disappears and affects surrounding glaciers, it could lead to sea level rise, said Ted Scambos, US lead coordinator for the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC). about 3 meters. Summary: Under the influence of climate warming, glaciers all over the world are now melting to varying degrees. In some areas, the rate of glaciers is relatively slow, and in some areas, the rate of glaciers may be unimaginable. Once these glaciers keep melting at a rapid rate, there will be fewer and fewer glaciers on Earth in the future. According to the predictions of some scientists, there may be an "ice-free summer" in the Arctic Ocean in the near future, that is, at some point in the future, the summer in the Arctic Ocean may be free of sea ice. The disappearance of glaciers is also a big problem for the earth's ecosystem. For example, the disappearance of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean will directly affect all kinds of creatures living on and off the sea ice. One of the food sources of polar bears is seals. These seals generally rest or breathe on the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The underwater activity of polar bears is far less than that of sea ice, so if the sea ice disappears, it will affect the predation efficiency of polar bears. This in turn leads to a desperate situation for polar bears, which is one of the threats to the ecosystem. For the earth's climate, the disappearance of sea ice will also exacerbate the trend of climate warming. Because the white snow and glaciers can reflect a lot of sunlight, in this way, the earth will not absorb too much heat, but when the snow and glaciers disappear, the sunlight directly shines on the bare land, and the land reflects the sunlight. The efficiency is relatively much lower, so the temperature of the earth will be higher. Therefore, how to protect these glaciers is very important. Since glaciers are all over the world, some are located in high mountains and plateaus, some are distributed in the North and South Pole, and the area is also very large. It is impossible for us to "cover a quilt" for these glaciers. What we can do is actually to slow down the trend of climate warming. Over the years, we have taken a series of measures to deal with the problem of climate warming, including planting trees and developing clean energy, etc. However, the process of mitigating climate warming is very slow, so we still need to continue to work hard.