Antarctica could heat up 1.4 times faster than the rest of the Southern Hemisphere over the coming decades, which would lock in extreme sea-level rise and ravage polar ecosystems, a new modeling study shows.
This acceleration of warming in Antarctica relative to other regions, known as Antarctic amplification, would likely occur if global temperatures reached 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial levels, according to the study. The world has already warmed by 2 F (1.1 C), and the pace at which new temperature records are being set is intensifying. If emissions stay around current levels, we will likely reach 3.6 F of warming around 2050 — but if emissions keep rising, we could hit that threshold around 2040.
