It’s normal to feel concerned about climate change and melting of the WAIS. It’s also easy to feel a bit stuck. How can we tackle a problem that seems both far away, so enormous, and even somewhat inevitable? One thing to remember is how worried people were in the 1980s about an ozone hole over Antarctica getting larger and larger due to gases we were putting into the atmosphere. The world worked together to ban these gases, and the ozone hole is now on track to recover completely in the next few decades. So, we know we can do it!
Climate change issues will affect us all in different ways, but we all have the power to help solve our climate change problem. But the first step in solving a problem is to understand it.
We know our planet is warming. The international SWAIS 2C team is working on this ambitious project because we seek to understand how much the West Antarctic Ice Sheet melted in the past so we can predict the future. The more that scientists, citizens, and lawmakers understand about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the better we can anticipate how much sea level rise to expect—and how soon to expect it.
The more we understand, the better we can all work together to solve the problems caused by sea level rise and other climate change issues.
But how can you have an impact right now?
The two biggest things you can do right now are:
We’ll soon provide fun and creative resources that will help you learn more and tell the world.
In the meantime, why not share what you’ve already discovered about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet? If you use social media, our hashtag is #SWAIS2C. Some other relevant hashtags include: #HowMuchHowFast, #ClimateCrisis, and #Antarctica (can you think of any others?). If you want to stay updated, be sure to sign up for updates in the footer below.