One Blue Marble Blog

Scientists throughout the world have spent the last year research the Arctic and Antarctica in what has been dubbed the International Polar Year (IPY), and their aggregated results are stunning. Both regions are warming far faster than expected and that makes drastic climate change — and dramatically rising sea levels — far more likely.

Researchers were alarmed by the volatility at both polar regions because, before the IPY, both regions were considered stable, and unlikely to change much this century.

“Snow and ice are declining in both polar regions, affecting human livelihoods as well as local plant and animal life in the Arctic as well as global atmospheric circulation and sea-level,” states a summary written by researchers. “But it now appears certain that both the Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass and thus raising sea level, and that the rate of ice loss from Greenland is growing. New data also confirm that warming in the Antarctic is much more widespread than it was thought prior to IPY.”

Scientists are also particularly concerned about the melting tundra, and its potential to release enormous amounts of carbon.

To describe the research as comprehensive might be an understatement. More than 10,000 scientists from 63 countries took part in the $1.5 billion program. But the experts also said the exact speed of these developments was difficult to measure — or predict — accurately given the current research tools available.

Nevertheless, the report clearly states that “the message of IPY is loud and clear: what happens in the polar regions affects the rest of the world and concerns us all.”

Editor’s Note: Luckily, I have the perfect clip to illustrate this story. Read more about this amazing video at The Telegraph.

You have to watch!