2008 Larsen Ice Shelf Expedition to Explore Antarctica

Scientists prophesied that one of the first signs of human-caused climate change would be the collapse of the Antarctic Peninsula’s ice sheets. This is exactly what is happening.

IF THE SURFACE of the Earth is a single, complex system, then Antarctica is its heart, the slowly beating pump that drives the whole world.

Each austral winter, a 7-million-square-mile halo of sea ice forms around the continent, and each spring trillions of tons of fresh water are released into the ocean as it thaws. This is the planet’s great annual climate cycle, the thermodynamic engine that drives the circulation of ocean currents, redistributing the sun’s heat, regulating climate, forcing the upwelling of deep ocean nutrients, setting the tempo of the planet’s weather.

The Antarctic affects all our lives, but through forces so deep and elemental that we’re not even aware of them. Conversely, here is where global change is most clearly seen. The effects of ozone depletion and global warming are strongest in polar regions. Because Antarctica is essentially uninhabited and without industry, there is virtually no local pollution; any ecological and climate disturbances on the continent are certainly caused by global forces. The continent is un-owned, and by international treaty it has been set aside for the pursuit of scientific discovery; from outposts spread across the frozen continent, scientists from around the world monitor Antarctica’s climate, ice and animals, assembling a picture of a planet in flux.

Global warming models from the early 1970s predicted that climactic effects of human greenhouse gas emissions would be felt first and most strongly at the poles.

The expedition offers both a perfect capping to my 10-year-long Oceans 8 Project (sea kayaking around the world one continent at a time, studying both the health of the seas and the lives of people who depend on them) as well as a unique combination of adventure and environmental reporting.

In March 2002 scientists watched the Antarctic’s 500- billion-ton Larsen-B ice shelf shatter into thousands of tiny icebergs, before their eyes. Its break-up was an early-warning sign; the peninsular ice shelves are considered among the first indicators of global warming.

What happened so dramatically to the Larsen Ice Shelf suggests the rest of the Peninsula’s ice may one day calve off or deteriorate. No one knows how quickly that will happen. “Best guess” projections are that the melting on the Peninsula will raise the world’s sea levels by 20 inches to 3.5 feet in the next century. All this warming and shifting is also having clear and extremely troubling impact on life around its shores.

Will Steger

We intend to get as close as we can to what remains of the Larsen Ice Shelf, to document how it is today. Including my friend, polar explorer Will Steger on the team is key since his traverse of the Peninsula by dogsled in 1989 gives him a singular expertise. His www.globalwarming101.com will play an integral role when we are down south.

Spurred by warming coastal air and waters, many of Antarctica’s glaciers and ice shelves have accelerated their melting, suggesting that ocean levels might be irreversibly on the rise for centuries to come. The potential rise in seas in this century already constitutes a slow-motion catastrophe for places like Bangladesh, New Orleans, and low-lying island nations. But the findings add weight to the idea that rising seas could be a fact of life for centuries to come, requiring serious reassessment of the human penchant for living along coasts. Many of the clues to that evolution lie in Antarctica’s changing ice.