Transcription
Underneath Antarctica's ice, there's a deep, dark secret. Today, we're going to melt all that ice to find out how it would transform Earth. As the ice melts and sea levels rise, this is WHAT IF, and here's what would happen.
Welcome to Antarctica, the continent that encircles the South Pole. It's 40% bigger than Europe and full of ice. Here you’ll find seals, whales, penguins, and the odd scientist doing some research. And on this continent, you'll find an ice chunk the size of Florida. Welcome to the 120 km (80 mile) wide Thwaites Glacier. Its more scary nickname is the Doomsday Glacier. When it melts, there will be a catastrophic rise in sea levels all over the world.
Now, this Doomsday Glacier is melting incredibly fast. It sheds 50 billion tons of ice into the ocean every year and accounts for 4% of the 9 inches of sea level rise that's happened so far. Some scientists are predicting that the whole thing might melt in decades rather than centuries. But we don't have even a few decades to hang around, let alone centuries. So I'm going to show you what happens if it melts a whole lot sooner.
In seconds. In just a few seconds, Thwaites has melted and flowed into the Southern Ocean that surrounds it, and from there into the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic and the Pacific. Sea levels rise by 60 centimeters (2 feet) around the world. The streets of San Francisco are getting flooded. Miami and New Orleans are also rushed with water.
But what's going on? Why did this glacier crack and break away from the rest? Well, there's something going on underneath. Beneath Thwaites is a massive river. Flowing fast. Melted ice from the iceberg is feeding it. This is happening thanks to geothermal energy from the Earth's molten interior. The melting process starts off slow, but eventually huge chunks of ice break off. This starts a chain reaction, causing more and more ice to break off and melt.
And there's more to it than just one river. A whole world of mysteries lies beneath the ice of Antarctica. But before I take you to that fascinating underworld, I want to tell you about why Antarctica is so important. It's an ice sheet covering an area of 14,000,000km² (5.4 mi²) with an average thickness of over 2 km (1.2 miles). Just for comparison, that's about one and a half times the area of the United States. That is a staggering amount of ice. 25,000,000km³ (6,000,000mi³) of it. It's 90% of all the ice on the globe. And locked up in that ice is 60% of Earth’s freshwater.
Now, unlike the Arctic, where the ice is floating on water, there's land beneath the ice in Antarctica. You don't think about it because 98% of the land is covered with ice. And that's not all. 1.5 million sq km (580,000 square miles) of ocean is also hiding underneath this ice. And when all this ice melts in a few minutes, sea levels are going to rise an astounding 70m (230 feet). We'll see what this epic meltdown does to Earth in a bit. But first I want to talk about what's waiting for us underneath all that ice, because it could be equally as alarming.
If all that ice melted, ancient microbes and viruses trapped for thousands or even millions of years could be released, potentially unleashing unknown diseases on the world. Modern immune systems have never encountered these ancient pathogens, meaning we might have little or no natural defense against them. Without having prior evolutionary exposure, infections could spread uncontrollably, requiring cutting edge medical treatments just to stand a chance. Some infections might even demand higher dose antibiotics or controlled release drugs to fight off prolonged illnesses.
Luckily, we're already making progress on technologies that can help tackle these challenges. One biotechnology company called Gelteq is revolutionizing medicine with its gel based drug and nutrient delivery system. Their patented technology allows for the higher doses and the controlled release timing necessary to fight these tough infections. But it's not just for extreme medical cases. It's solving a problem for nearly 1 billion people worldwide who struggle to swallow pills. Instead of choking down a tablet, imagine taking a medication in a smooth and easy to use gel. Game changing right? Well, it doesn't stop there. Gelteq system is suitable for human and animal health with applications in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, pet care and sports performance. Right now, Gelteq is focused on the nutraceutical market with over 70 products, and it's working towards FDA approval for its drug delivery platform publicly traded on the Nasdaq under GELS, it collaborates with brands to integrate its gel technology into new and existing products, this could be the next big leap in drug and nutrient delivery, poised to disrupt a market worth nearly half $1 trillion. If you want to learn more about Gelteq’s huge growth potential, click the link in the description. But as you'll see later in our video, it'll take more than just their cutting edge technology to fight what's hidden beneath the ice.
Let's take a look at the bizarre creatures waiting for us inside this frozen landscape. As you explore this uncharted territory, you'll get a peek at the ocean floor. And just above you, you'll see the underside of the ice. Here you'll find a type of marine life called anemones. These tiny little creatures are burrowed into the underside of the ice. You'll also find some other small fish and crustaceans. The anemones you find are going to be very different from what you'd find normally in the ocean. They're a new species with an unusual trait. Sea anemones usually stay rooted to a single spot, kind of like a plant. But these Antarctic anemones wriggle about in the water. Scientists are still figuring out where they're trying to go.
OK, almost nothing grows in that cold darkness, right? So what are these creatures eating and how are they surviving? Well, It's probably little bits of plankton and poop ferried in by ocean currents. But they're also eating something that's super weird and kind of gross. It's the ocean equivalent of rotting food in the back of your fridge. These creatures are eating millions of years old rotting skeletons, bodies, and ancient bacteria that were around when Earth was much warmer.
Ooh! Watch out. A few more massive glaciers are about to break off. As the neighboring glaciers to Thwaites separate and melt, more water pours into the oceans. Worldwide, sea levels rise another 2.5 meters (8 feet). Cities on the East Coast of the United States are covered in water. Boston, New York, Miami. Millions of people are affected.
Even as cities are getting submerged, something bizarre would be going on right off the coast of Antarctica. Close by, the sea level would actually be falling as all this ice was melting, while the sea level further away would be rising. Now, why would this strange event be happening? Well, remember, the Antarctic ice sheet is enormous. It weighs a mind boggling 24 billion megatons. So it exerts its own gravitational pull on the surrounding waters, which raises the sea level nearby. But when the ice melts, the power of that gravity is gone. So sea levels nearby fall just as they're getting higher elsewhere.
Over in the East end of Antarctica the Denmark and Scotts glaciers have melted. This adds another 1.5 meters (5ft) of water to our oceans. Now, at a 4 meter (15 ft) rise, the United States is now losing national monuments. The Jefferson Memorial is underwater. Fenway Park is submerged. Major coastal cities around the world are also flooded. Shanghai, Lagos, Mumbai. Jakarta. Ports are flooded and destroyed. All that salty water is flowing into farmland and destroying our crops. Even worse, underground aquifers that give us drinking water are now contaminated with saline spilling over from the ocean.
What's scarier is that the contamination runs deeper than just salt. The Antarctic ice carries bacteria that have traits that are dangerous to human beings. Some of these bacteria cause infections, and they're linked to diseases like cystic fibrosis. But it gets worse. They have an even more deadly superpower. They're resistant to the antibiotics we use to treat diseases today. If they exchange parts of their genes with the bacteria of our world, the resistance to drugs will only grow and spread to even more bacteria. This point, we humans would be toast would no longer be able to fight off bacterial infections. Not good if we're drinking contaminated water.
But like any Hollywood villain, these bacteria also have a good side. They can help us create new and better antibiotics. They can help clean up toxic waste sites and maybe even be part of a new biodegradable alternative to plastics.
As more and more ice breaks off and melts, other ecological systems are getting thrown out of whack. For one, the melting ice is changing the way ocean currents flow. Before all this ice melted, the water in the oceans moved around in a very particular way. Dense, salty water sank to the bottom of the ocean floor, pushing the less dense water up to the surface. Through this movement, the water acted like a giant conveyor belt, transporting heat and nutrients from one place to another. This is a key factor for the survival of marine life.
Now, with fresh water from melting glaciers entering the picture, the water at the ocean's surface becomes less salty and dense and doesn't sink down as far. It's like our ocean conveyor belt has being jammed up. It's no longer able to move heat from one place to another. Scientists warn that the melting of the Arctic will mess with the warm Gulf Stream. They're still figuring out how an Antarctic ice melt will change our climate. Under some circumstances, for instance, if icebergs broke from the Antarctic and melted further away in the Atlantic. The changes in ocean circulation could bring on an Ice Age. But if the melting primarily caused sea levels to rise, well, we'd probably just end up with a warmer Earth.
And it's not just heat patterns that we need to worry about. Breaking the oceanic conveyor belt means problems with the movement of nutrients from the ocean floor to the surface. These nutrients are important for the growth of phytoplankton, the tiny algae at the bottom of the ocean food chain. They may seem small and insignificant, but they're the bedrock of life in the ocean. They provide essential nutrients to marine life. But not all phytoplankton would suffer the same fate. For the phytoplankton around Antarctica's waters, The melting ice would provide iron and give them something rich to feast on. In fact, this event might lead to a temporary massive algae bloom as the waters are flooded with nutrients that were previously buried in the ice. The growth of the phytoplankton might be a good thing because at least they'll absorb a little carbon dioxide. The Earth will need that.
Why? Well, because all this ice melting is going to make the planet a lot hotter - for several reasons. First, ice helps keep Earth cooler through its super reflective surface. It's very effective at bouncing sunlight away from Earth's surface, which helps keep things cool. But once it's melted, that's a different story. With glaciers melting and the water warming, the activity of microscopic fungi in the water is also picking up. Just like dead leaves decompose in forests. Microscopic fungi act on dead matter in the oceans, decomposing it and releasing carbon dioxide. Warmer oceans mean more dead matter gets decomposed, leading to more carbon dioxide being released. Now on top of this, the melting glaciers create a layer of fresh water on top of the salty ocean water. This causes the oceans to be less efficient at removing carbon dioxide from the air. Again adding to the warming.
And now the rest of Antarctica is breaking up into humongous chunks and melting rapidly. Water from the melting ice pouring into the oceans. As the ice melts, something amazing is revealed. A natural wonder that's been hidden for millions of years. An enormous canyon system 100 km (62 miles) longer than the Grand Canyon. It's the deepest canyon on Earth, running 3.5 km (2 miles) below sea level and stretching all the way from the interior to the coast. And now you can also see the 15 million-year-old Lake Vostok, the sixth largest lake in the world by volume. And good news, with all the ice melted, you can picnic there. if you're still in the mood to picnic after everything the Earth is going through. Plus, you might want to stay away from the microorganisms living in the waters of Lake Vostok. They've been evolving there, isolated from the influences of our world for 15 million years. Who knows what they could do to your body?
But there's no time to admire the canyon or peer at Lake Vostok, because sea levels are rising higher and faster than before. You're witnessing the last and most dangerous stretch. Every last chunk of ice is melted. Sea levels have risen over 70 meters (230 feet). This rapid rise has caught people by surprise. 40% of the world's population, over 3 billion people, live near a coastline. And the vast majority of them have drowned as Antarctica's ice has melted in a matter of minutes. The entire Atlantic seaboard, including huge chunks of the United States, is gone, submerged underwater. People in skyscrapers as high as 23 stories are forced to race to the rooftop in a desperate bid to survive. Parts of California are transformed into bunches of little islands surrounded by water. And other parts of the state, are completely gone. London, Paris, Venice and every major coastal city we know and love is underwater. Millions of people are displaced, injured or potentially dying from this catastrophic event. Anyone smart enough to jump in their car and flee inland as the water first started pouring onto land may have escaped with their lives if they could get to higher ground. But those are only a lucky few. Governments are in a panic, deploying emergency operations They know that almost everyone on the coast has drowned. But maybe there's a way to rescue desperate people on top of skyscrapers. But with so many people affected, are there enough helicopters to even rescue these people? Boats would be needed. How will governments be able to replace all the destroyed infrastructure? More importantly, what will we do about the sudden lack of freshwater? With our freshwater mixed with saltwater, humans now have a serious lack of drinking water. Suddenly, the land in the interior has become the hottest property. People living in the U.S. Midwest are super happy. They were never ever part of the wealthy coastal elite. Denver, Minneapolis, Las Vegas are looking more attractive than ever before.
Now, nations in the southern part of the globe are hit even harder. All of Bangladesh, with a population of 160 million people, is underwater. Geopolitical tensions rise as countries are looking for aid. But since so many places are hit, help is hard to come by.
Now that all the ice is gone, there's still another thing that has to melt, the permafrost. This is the soil that's been frozen at the poles for more than 40,000 years. As it thaws, it releases the carbon dioxide and methane that are trapped underneath it, causing the Earth to warm more and melt even more of the permafrost. As the permafrost thaws, it's as if someone popped a frozen dinner into the microwave. Tiny organisms start to munch on the freshly thawed ancient organic matter. As they do this, they fart out carbon dioxide and methane, which causes global temperatures to rise even more. Great, now we're breathing in microorganism farts and it's getting hotter. Worst scenario ever. Oh, but it can get even worse. In the midst of all this, it’s possible that DNA viruses in the permafrost will thaw and kick off a global pandemic. Creating a vaccine in the midst of this catastrophe would be a challenge like never before. Plus it's hot. Earth is 5-10 ºC (9-18 F) warmer. The heat is what’s driven the entire ice sheet to melt. But now these changes are making it even hotter. With the average temperature on Earth now almost 27 ºC (80 ºF), a mass migration of people begins. The most popular spots? Canada, Alaska, and the newly unveiled Artic and Antarctic regions. These are the new tropical paradises. 34 million years ago, Antarctica was a temperate rainforest like New Zealand. Maybe that’s going to happen all over again, with palm trees on the Antarctic coast and alligators swimming in the warm South Ocean.
Thank goodness Antarctica is not actually melting in a matter of minutes. With coastal cities turning into watery graves, 3 billion people dead, our groundwater contaminated, more warming on the way, and maybe a global pandemic, I can't think of a worse situation. Unless, of course, land and water suddenly switched places. But that’s a story for another WHAT IF.