Global warming right before their eyes, Antarctic scientists share their shock at dramatic changes on icy continent

Scientists are reporting dramatic changes in Antarctica which they now say they are witnessing firsthand. Entire valleys have lost their ice and vegetation continues to expand. The continent continues to warm and while ice is gaining in East Antarctica, it is not offsetting the melting that is occurring across the rest of the continent driving concerns of sea level rise.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Several NASA scientists have spoken to the Daily Mail, warning that they are now witnessing firsthand the impacts of climate change in Antarctica. While these men build up the studies which are expressed in figures and graphs such reports are often lost on lay people who don't know what to make of the data.

But witnessing firsthand the expansion of cracks in the ice, the growth of vegetation, and the disappearance of massive quantities of ice is another matter. For the researchers who return to Antarctica regularly, the changes are striking.

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Peter Convey of the British Atlantic Survey told Daily Mail that the patches of ice he regularly observed remained, but were all smaller than he remembered. He attributed their reduced size to warming.

He also added that there are now entire valleys free of ice, something never observed or recorded ever before.

Botanist Angelica Casanova told the publication that in the 20 years since she began visiting, she has witnessed the expansion of vegetation. She commented that the plants were growing in the ground where glaciers once stood. As the glaciers retreat, plants advance.

We might consider the growth of plants a good thing and in many parts of the world it is, but in Antarctica it is evidence of a troubling problem.

Much of the ice, the researchers say, is melting from below. NASA measurements confirm the continent is losing about 130 billion tons of ice per year, and the melting is accelerating. At the current rate, it will raise sea level around the globe by as much of 10 feet, a devastating change for many areas. It will take just one to two centuries to reach that level.

Temperatures in Antarctica have risen by 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 50 years.

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In the United States, the cause of the warming remains a matter of intense public debate with strong political overtones, however science is not subject to political interpretations. A vast majority of the world's climate scientists blame atmospheric CO2 for the rise in warming and research has demonstrated that only a minimal increase in CO2 makes a substantial difference. With continued burning of fossil fuels, humans are dumping the greenhouse gas into the atmosphere faster than nature can absorb it. The result is climate change too fast for nature to adapt.

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Let us remember that we, people, are part of that same nature too, as God intended.

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