Australia not prepared for how Antarctic ice changes will hit economy, scientist warns

Melting ice in Antarctica. There is increasing evidence that longer-term transformations linked to the climate crisis have started sooner than assumed. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A leading Antarctic scientist has urged the Albanese government to pay closer attention to abrupt changes under way in the southern continent, warning they will affect Australians in ways that are little understood and research into them is drastically underfunded.

The head of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, Prof Matt King, said he found it embarrassing how little was known about the local and global ramifications of changes including a historic drop in floating sea ice cover, the accelerating melting of giant ice sheets and the slowing of a deep ocean current known as the Southern Ocean overturning circulation.