What are the dangers that human beings face due to Antarctica getting warmer?

Answer 1

Human impact is the greatest threat to Antarctica. In the last 100 years, a number of Antarctic species have been brought close to extinction because of human impact, in the form of pollution from sewage and other contaminants, and general interference. Scientific research can also pose a threat if it is not undertaken with strict controls. Fortunately, protection measures are underway, to limit too much further interference, although increasing tourism may cause problems.

There is also a push from some quarters to drill for oil or mine for a variety of minerals and metals in the region. Historical evidence shows that oil and mining are both especially risky undertakings for the environment. At this stage, these activities are banned under the Antarctic treaty, and there are no plans to change this.

Golbal warming is threat to the entire Earth. Whether global warming is the result of man's activities or part of the natural cycle of the Earth, it is still a threat to the Antarctic ice shelves.

Answer 2

Antarctic ice is land based, so its volume is not affecting the sea level through displacement. However, when the ice melts due to warming of Antarctica, the ice will enter the sea, and will then add its mass to the oceans, fully adding the volume of the water to the sea level (as opposed to sea ice which shrinks when melting and the displacement change and therefore change to sea level is an overall net number and insignificant compared to added water from run-off).

So when land ice melts, it will rapidly increase sea-level; when sea ice melts it will have little or no effect on sea level, being already in it at the time of melting. This is why the Greenland ice-sheet is considered a problem as it is land-based.

The Antarctic ice sheet contains 916700 thousand tons. This is enough to raise sea levels by at least 13metres -the height of a four/five storey building: the problem to humans is that most heavily populated cities would become 1 or 2 storeys underwater by this increase.