00:00Today we'll discuss a not often talked about topic on climate change, and then we'll look at the dramatic sea
00:07ice loss in Antarctica over the last decade.
00:11Brett, our first story is from the Associated Press, and it focuses on plants.
00:15We hear a lot about the impact of climate change on animals, a lot of images of polar bears disappearing
00:21from habitats, but not too much talk about plants.
00:24What does this article find?
00:25Yeah, very important. Plants, obviously, very important to the world.
00:28Tens of thousands of plant species may be gone by the end of this century, according to this study.
00:35Combination of rising temperatures, precipitation pattern changes, and also many more extremes that we're seeing are the cause.
00:42That's a lot of plants. Tens of thousands. It looks like about 7 to 16 percent of existing species could
00:48lose almost all of their habitat.
00:51What's the reason for the loss of habitat, and what types of things do plants need to thrive?
00:56Yeah, well, the warming rate, that's what they really specify in the study, the warming rate that we're starting to
01:02accelerate now,
01:03especially up in northern areas, up in the Arctic, is rising four times faster than the remainder of the planet.
01:10Also, rainfall changes. We're seeing big changes across Australia as one country there.
01:17So those are two things that are really affecting plants. And so, what do plants do?
01:21They either die off, or they have to shift, either up into higher elevations where it's cooler, or farther northern
01:27latitudes.
01:28But even those shifts may not be enough.
01:31Yeah, it seems like just the habitat may no longer exist for some plants to thrive.
01:34They need temperature in certain ranges. The precipitation and the soil needs to be the right soil.
01:40And if you don't have all those together, it can be challenging.
01:43So, certainly an impact to be studied further, and has significant impacts as well on human food access and security.
01:50Our second story is from CNN, focusing on Antarctica.
01:53A triple whammy of chaos is how the article describes it.
01:57Sea ice in Antarctica, Brett, used to be something that was pretty stable,
02:00but in the last 10 years, it has started to rapidly decline.
02:02Yeah, even before 2015, which is the time when things are starting to decline dramatically,
02:08sea ice was actually expanding down across Antarctica.
02:11And that was an argument used by some people who do not believe in climate change, per se,
02:17as a reason for climate change not existing.
02:20But now, we're starting to see a dramatic decrease in sea ice.
02:24And 2022 and 2023 both had record low sea ice extent.
02:28So, record low. Seems like the pattern's continuing. What's the cause of that?
02:31Well, it's three causes, possibly.
02:33So, we're seeing the warming of the atmosphere.
02:36A hole in the ozone layer may be just changing the wind patterns down across Antarctica.
02:41So, the wind, the westerly winds have become stronger.
02:44And so, what that's causing is the ice to stay close to the coast, not expand.
02:51Strong winds also bring up warmer, saltier water from the deep,
02:55which is keeping, you know, melting some of the ice.
02:57And then, when we have less ice, just like in the Arctic,
03:00the albedo is less, and it just continues to warm.
03:03Positive feedback.
03:04Yeah, you get that positive feedback loop.
03:06Ocean water absorbs more of the solar radiation than ice does,
03:09which reflects it and acts as a mirror.
03:10And it seems like what may happen is the Antarctic,
03:12which was a bit of a stabilizing part of the climate,
03:15may turn into a warming driver going forward.
03:17Thank you, Brett, for that insight.
03:19Other stories about climate can be found at AccuWeather.com slash climate.
03:28AccuWeather.com slash climate.
03:28AccuWeather.com slash climate.
03:28Thanks.
03:28You
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