Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

SOCIO ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS CAUSED DUE TO ICE SHEET DEPLETION IN ANTARCTICA AND ARCTIC REGIONS

Anjani Mamidala, Akanksh Mamidala and P.V. Naga Prapurna

Abstract

In today’s world of economic growth, climate change is receiving less amount of attention. Minor percentage of the world’s population are aware of the changing patterns of climate and are accepting the amateurish effects caused by climate change and they also accept the fact that global warming is caused due to human activities since the industrial revolution in the 18th century. Climate change is a devastating problem which is being observed in the past few decades. According to the scientists, if we don’t act towards climate change within 2035, that will be the point of no return. Ice caps, glaciers, ice mountains are being affected due to climate warming. Ice caps are defined as a mass of glacial ice spread over 50,000 square kilometers consisting of 99% of fresh water on earth. There are only two ice sheets in the world which play a vital role in the sustainability of living beings on earth. Ice sheets have the ability to trap CO2 present in the atmosphere. Ice sheets also play a vital role in reflecting sunlight from the Earth’s surface and regulating the Earth’s global average temperature. In the present century the percentage of ice sheet has reduced exponentially and the global average temperature has increased to 0.94oC. In this paper, the types of ice sheets, role played by the ice caps in regulating the Earth’s atmosphere, effects caused due to depletion of ice sheets and the methods for retaining the ice sheets from melting is being concentrated.