Why Antarctica matters
Professor Tim Naish's five reasons Kiwis should care about his research on the ice.
Professor Tim Naish, who heads Victoria University's Antarctic Research Centre, will be presented the prestigious Martha T. Muse Prize for science and policy in Antarctica at a global conference in Auckland next week.
He shared with Jamie Morton from the New Zealand Herald five reasons Kiwis should care about his research on the ice.
It could change the world's coastlines
"We still really don't know how the Antarctic ice sheets are going to contribute to sea level rise," Professor Naish said. The upper end prediction for sea level rise is about 1m by the end of the century. But if the vast West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed, the impact could mean 3m of rise.
Its past can tell us about our future
The globe is warming because of the amount of carbon humans have put into the atmosphere, yet it has been through the same from natural causes. Scientists will study the Pliocene period as its climate compares with what's predicted.
Its biology can pick up change early
"Often, biologists will say the Antarctic critters are the early warning signs, or sentinels of change. Changes to the food web could indicate ecological impacts from climate change."
It's the 'fly wheel' of the climate system
"The Antarctic is a very important cog in the climate engine; I think of it as a fly wheel because the oceans and atmosphere spins around it, transporting heat around the planet."
We need to understand its ozone hole
"The big question for us as climate scientists is will we see amplified warming in Antarctica? The ozone hole is suppressing things now, but that won't last forever, and the surface of the Southern Ocean will eventually warm."
Read the full New Zealand Herald feature: Kiwis in Antarctica: Secrets of the ice world