The Importance of Ice Shelves in Antarctica

The Antarctic drilling project is an important scientific expedition, where gathering information on geographic processes of the ice-covered landmass will be important in resolving global warming uncertainties and dissensions. While the issue of climate change has already been confirmed by multiple lines of scientific evidence, including the century-scale changes in global temperature, the implications and related effects remain an issue of immense controversy. Different camps hold diverging views, an issue that underlies disagreements over carbon footprints, carbon trading schemes, as well as ratifications of international legal regimes touching on mitigation of greenhouse-gas-emissions. The findings of the Andrill research expedition on global warming and cooling will thus be important in improving understanding of the dynamics of climate change, especially on the behaviour of sea-ice and glaciers. The research is thus a knowledge-building project that will play a significant role in resolving dissensions that affected coordinated efforts to climate change programmes.

How Many Calories Per Day Were Needed by the Scientist to Live in Such an Extreme Environment and Why?

6,000 calories per day. Eating correctly is an important aspect of withstanding the harsh ecology of Antarctica when conducting research in the polar region. A balance between fat, protein, and carbohydrate intake, coupled with warm dressing, is fundamental in keeping the body temperature at optimum levels. Calorie-rich food supplies such as cheese, nuts, chocolate, and buttery foods also help in absorbing other nutrients. The calorie demand is thus important for meeting dietary needs and surviving in the extreme environment.

Explain the Difference between an Ice Shelf and an Ice Sheet

The ice sheet is a chunk of glacier settling on a solid land. On the other hand, the ice shelf is a slab covering coastline and ocean surfaces. The latter is mostly a seaward extension of the ice sheet. It forms when glaciers in higher elevations break. The floating tongues of ice remain suspended for thousands of years.

According to the Video, Why are Ice Shelves So Important

The video indicates that ice shelves are buttressing barriers that have been playing an important role in protecting the Antarctic ice cover. They hold back the flow of ice into oceans. The role is fundamental in maintaining the structural integrity of Antarctic glaciers since the Pliocene age when the globe started cooling. The ice shelves have been preventing ice sheets from flowing into the sea and disappearing. Any further alterations in Antarctic ice shelves as the case of Larsen Ice Shelf shattering apart in 2002 will see ice sheet fall into sea and melt, marking the end of the largest single mass of ice on Earth.