Historical Changes in Ice Caps Over the Past 20,000 Years
The ice caps began quickly melting some 20,000 years ago, and the resultant water had to go somewhere, typically under glaciers. Huge valleys formed beneath the ice throughout time to drain the water from the ice (Gregory et al., 2020). The summer surface melting of the ice, which enters the bed through fissures or tunnels similar to chimneys and then flows under the pressure of the ice sheet, is the most critical process. Thus, the melting process has continued throughout this period, but recently, due to human activity, it has accelerated.
Future Challenges: Implications of Continued Ice Cap Decline
Water Level
The rapid melting of glaciers in the mountains nowadays does not fit into natural cycles in any way. The most dangerous thing is that reducing ice volume in the mountains can have disastrous consequences for nature and the economy of mountain regions and foothill plains. The first problem humans will face in the next 1000 years is the water level (Gregory et al., 2020). The fear is the unfreezing of bacteria and viruses, for which the creatures on Earth are prepared.
Lack of Biodiversity
The following necessary consequence of melting glaciers will be a decline in biodiversity. This leads to additional risks in agriculture – plant diseases and invasion of insect pests. Changes in precipitation, the melting of mountain glaciers, and an overall increase in global temperature are all manifestations of climate change that gradually change the flow of rivers (the volume of water that a river carries). Typically, the river flows change from season to season, but there are some multi-year patterns. Due to climate change, the daily work of the river is being disturbed. As a result, major flooding and flooding of settlements along the river may occur, or, conversely, the riverbed may dry up.
Research Article on Ice Cap Decline
I used an article about melting the Greenland ice sheet as the foundation for this work. Jonathan M. Gregory, Stephen E. Giorgi, and Robin S. Smith contributed to this paper. The scientists forecast and discuss the various results of this procedure. They also propose that artificial climate change must be corrected before the ice sheet reaches its threshold mass, attained in around 600 years (Gregory et al., 2020). This article confirms the impact of melting glaciers and provides a framework for humanity’s future actions.
Reference
Gregory, J. M., George, S. E., & Smith, R. S. (2020). Large and irreversible future decline of the Greenland ice sheet. The Cryosphere, 14(12), 4299-4322. Web.