Octopuses as an indicator: scientists have determined how much the water level in the world's oceans will rise all the glaciers melt
Recently, a group of scientists conducted a study that revealed how many meters the sea level would rise if all the glaciers melted. To answer this question, scientists reconstructed the history of global warming and its impact on Antarctica by analyzing changes in octopus DNA.
According to the results of the analysis, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could have completely collapsed between 129,000 and 116,000 years ago. This is reported by T4, citing an article in the journal Science for December 21, 2023. SSPDaily told more about it.
It is noted that for this analysis, scientists examined tissue samples from 96 Pareledone turqueti octopuses collected over the past 33 years. This creature lives in the bays surrounding Antarctica and is therefore ideal for studying its individual populations.
Scientists built demographic models and crossbreeding scenarios of ancient octopuses that could have led to the formation of modern individuals. They found that long before the ice ages, there were 4 octopus populations in the Weddell, Amundsen, Ross and East Antarctic Seas and in East Antarctica. However, after the formation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, these groups of animals were isolated.
The analysis showed a model of the complete destruction of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet at the time of the resumption of octopus interbreeding (approximately between 139,000 and 54,000 years ago). It is noted that this period coincides with the last interglacial, when, according to scientists, the temperature on the planet was 0.5°C higher than the current one.
The report states that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is currently losing approximately 159 Gt of ice per year. Thus, its complete collapse could lead to a sea level rise of about 3.3-5 m, which would lead to the flooding of coastal areas, islands and continents. It is noted that the turning point for the ice sheet, according to the Paris Agreement, will be an increase in global temperature below 2 ° C from pre-industrial levels.