PLANET EARTH:OUR LOVING HOME The Antarctic Melt: Interview with Professor Peter Barrett | |||||||
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Wonderful and caring friends, welcome to Planet Earth: Our Loving Home on Supreme Master Television. This week we are fortunate to speak with Dr. Peter Barrett, Professor of Geology and Director of the Antarctic Research Center at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.
In the 1960’s Professor Barrett spent 5 years at Ohio State University, USA where he completed his doctorate. He also worked in Antarctica mapping the continent’s mountains and thus became fascinated by the ancient history of the region. When he returned to New Zealand, he took part in a deep-sea geological drilling expedition of the ocean floor near the Antarctic. He discovered that core samples obtained from drilling are the key way to trace the past of the Antarctic continent. Currently Professor Barrett is taking ice-core samples in the Antarctic to better understand the climatic and chemical changes that have occurred in the area over time. Supreme Master TV: Professor Peter Barrett: Most of the heat comes in from the Sun on the tropics; it gets circulated down to the poles. But changes are greater in the polar regions than they are in the more central part of the Earth, and what the drilling does is to actually get us a history of climate going back in time. Because the Antarctic is mostly covered with ice, we can’t use exposed rocks like you do on other continents; so drilling is so important. HOST: Dr. Jay Zwally, a leading American climatologist with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States, has stated that the Arctic could be ice-free by the summer of 2012. Professor Peter Barrett shared with us the possible repercussions of such an event. Professor Peter Barrett: But perhaps first it’s important to say that the changes there are taking place faster than predicted. Our understanding of ten years ago suggested that this melting wouldn’t take place until later this century. But we are gaining knowledge so quickly now, it’s important to realize that we must stay apace with this knowledge, so that we can make better judgments about the future. ![]()
This precious place contains 90% of the world’s ice and thus holds most of its fresh water reserves. If the Antarctic were to completely melt, it could potentially cause a 190-foot or 58 meter rise in sea-level. This figure does not take into account thermal expansion, or the increase in the volume of water when it is heated, which could further raises the height of the ocean. Professor Peter Barrett: And I’m just mindful of the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It was a Peace Prize because of the work that that committee has done to understand and advocate for the management of the climate problem. HOST: In March 2008, a large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf located in the Peninsula, measuring about 405 square kilometers, separated from the Peninsula. In January 2009, it was reported that the entire Shelf, which measures more than 14,000 square km, is near total collapse. Professor Peter Barrett: The warming rate, it’s like two-and-a-half degrees in the last 50 years; that’s also true of the Arctic and Siberia but most of the rest of the Earth is not that fast. It represents a warning! Professor Peter Barrett: In our own work in Antarctica, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed, or simply wasn’t present.
Now, this is a situation where we don’t expect that the moment it reaches that point the Antarctic will respond, but what it does mean is that we have, actually, the climate in which that will eventually take place. First, the sequence is very clear– the ice shelves break out first. You’ve mentioned the Wilkins Ice Shelf, that’s further north but that’s already happening. The Ross Ice Shelf is much bigger; it will need a rise in temperature, of four or five degrees. But that could happen within a few decades and then once that goes, that releases the ice in West Antarctica. So it’s hard to say what’s worse – it actually happening now, or a civilization that lives in the knowledge that it will happen, and that sea level will rise about 10 or 15 meters as a consequence. HOST: The melting of the polar ice caps is exacerbated by a feedback mechanism known as the “albedo flip,” whereby human-induced global warming heats the atmosphere and ocean, thus melting the ice sheets. As ice acts like a mirror and reflects some of the sun’s rays back out to space, the increased ice melt allows more of the sun’s energy to enter the ocean, thus further warming the water and causing an increase in the melting of the ice. This situation is made worse by the subsequent release of methane and other global-warming gases from the Earth’s frozen permafrost. Professor Barrett explains more about this imminent danger. Professor Peter Barrett:
The melting of permafrost releases more methane and nobody knows just when some sort of point will be reached when there will be a cataclysmic dissociation, a discharge of methane. This is a very good reason to keep global temperatures as low as possible. HOST: Professor Barrett explains. Professor Peter Barrett: You can make it more personal by the notion of a personal carbon footprint. In my country, our carbon footprint is about four tons of carbon per year per person. This is large. In countries like India or China it’s much less than one ton; even though the emissions might be large the individual footprint is small. So because the core problem is carbon dioxide, in particular, it’s a gas that is very long-lived, and so I see it as our responsibility to reduce and eliminate carbon dioxide emissions so that the Earth can have its balance restored. Supreme Master TV: Professor Peter Barrett: And To me the outstanding example of this is Barack Obama, (he) made a very clear statement and which I would love to be able to quote completely; but to me it was quite a relief and quite inspirational. He was essentially saying that the science is understood, the problem is great, it can no longer be denied, we must act now. Supreme Master TV: Professor Peter Barrett: And so the sort of actions I think in terms of our thinking, to live simply; to think about what we do and to really use as little energy as possible. HOST: Nobel laureate and chairman of the International Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri has also stated that one of the most effective ways to reduce our carbon footprint is to stop the consumption of meat. In fact, according to a study by Drs. Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin, assistant professors of geophysics at the University of Chicago, USA, the carbon footprint of a meat-based diet is 1.5 tons heavier than that of a plant-based diet per person per year. We asked Professor Barrett for his views on the benefits of a vegetarian diet with regard to climate change. Professor Peter Barrett: I think a move in that direction, towards a vegetarian diet, is really a very important part of the changes that we need to make. HOST: Professor Peter Barrett: I’m quite sure this is what we will get to eventually. The only question is how much damage do we have to suffer in the process? This is why urgency is important, the next few years are important. James Hansen has been outstanding in the way that he makes this clear. His goal of 350 parts per million, I think we must really simply acknowledge and aim for. Now, we have exceeded that, but the challenge is for a mix of our technology and a changed way of life to reduce CO2 levels down to 350 parts-per-million and try to really get us out of the danger zone. HOST: The simplest and quickest way to stop global warming, that everyone can do easily and immediately, is to adopt a plant-based, vegan diet, which also happens to be exceptionally good for one’s health. To close our program, we would like to extend our gratitude to Professor Peter Barrett for his wise words and precious time. For more details on professor Peter Barrett, please visit:
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