\[ **BT: [[Earth#continents|continents]]** ] --- # Antarctica ## Antarctica and the changing climate [[Antarctica's fate is largely reliant upon what happens in its surrounding oceans.]][^1] [[The world's oceans hold more than 90% of the energy stored over the last fifty or so years, and the majority of that heat is in the Southern Ocean.]][^2] - see also: [[#Southern Ocean]] ### grounding line retreat [[Grounding lines are the ‘point at which glaciers and ice shelves start to float’.]][^3] [[Grounding line changes—for example, in Antarctica—can ‘result in very rapid changes in glacier and ice-shelf behaviour’.]][^4] ![[Davies, ‘Grounding Lines’, 2022#^4bb033]] [^5] [[Much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet sits on bedrock that's below sea-level. This makes it especially vulnerable to warming oceans.|The big problem is that much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet sits on bedrock that’s below sea level, making it highly vulnerable to warmer waters.]][^6] [[Antarctica's fate is largely reliant upon what happens in its surrounding oceans.]][^7] ![[Taylor, ‘Polar Change’, 2021#^e3f6a7]] ![[Taylor, ‘Polar Change’, 2021#^b4f194]] [[Many scientists believe the melt in Antarctica has passed key tipping points.]][^8] [^1]: Steve Rintoul in *The Poles Revealed*, episode 2, ‘[[Taylor, ‘Polar Change’, 2021|Polar Change]]’, directed by Anya Taylor, ABC iview, February 20, 2025, 57 minutes, [https://iview.abc.net.au/show/poles-revealed/series/0/video/DO2014H003S00](https://iview.abc.net.au/show/poles-revealed/series/0/video/DO2014H003S00). [^2]: Rintoul in *The Poles Revealed*, episode 2, ‘[[Taylor, ‘Polar Change’, 2021|Polar Change]]’. [^3]: Bethan Davies, ‘[[Davies, ‘Grounding Lines’, 2022|Grounding Lines]]’, *AntarticGlaciers.org*, last updated 7 February 2022, <https://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glacier-processes/grounding-lines/>. [^4]: Davies, ‘[[Davies, ‘Grounding Lines’, 2022|Grounding Lines]]’. [^5]: Davies, ‘[[Davies, ‘Grounding Lines’, 2022|Grounding Lines]]’. [^6]: *The Poles Revealed*, episode 2, ‘[[Taylor, ‘Polar Change’, 2021|Polar Change]]’. [^7]: Rintoul in *The Poles Revealed*, episode 2, ‘[[Taylor, ‘Polar Change’, 2021|Polar Change]]’. [^8]: *The Poles Revealed*, episode 2, ‘[[Taylor, ‘Polar Change’, 2021|Polar Change]]’.