Tourists visit the South Shetland Islands. A new study suggests that tourism and research activity in the most heavily traveled part of the continent is leading to more snow melt.
JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty ImagesA new study suggests that soot pollution is speeding up climate-driven melting in Antarctica, raising questions about how to protect the delicate continent from the increasing number of humans who want to visit.
soot and black carbon pollution in the most popular and accessible part of the world is causing an extra inch of snow loss every year.
The number of tourists visiting each year has grown from less than 10,000 in the early 1990s to nearly 75,000 in the summer season according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.
The new study makes us question if our presence is really needed, says one of the authors of the study.
Black carbon comes from burning plants or fossil fuels. The exhaust of cruise ships, vehicles, airplanes and electrical generators is the main cause of soot in Antarctica.
On a warm day, a black t-shirt absorbs heat from the sun and coats the snow.
Global warming makes the blanket of dark bits worse. The snow and ice reflect a lot of sunlight before it becomes heat.
A scientist at the University of Alaska Southeast who was not involved in the new study says that the mirrors are on our planet.
Mirrors covered in a film of dark bits are less reflective. Global warming is caused by trapping more heat on Earth.
The other pole has a huge problem with soot. Black carbon pollution has been a problem for many years. Oil and gas operations in Alaska, Canada and the north of Russia release a lot of pollution.
There is more air pollution from commercial shipping as the sea ice is melting. Climate-driven wildfires spread soot across huge swaths of theArctic each summer.
Sea level rise is caused by melting snow and ice. The local air and water are polluted by soot.
Pamela Miller is the leader of the environmental organization Alaska Community Action on Toxics.
Between 2013 and 2018, circummpolar countries banded together to reduce their collective black carbon emissions by about a fifth, and to study the health effects of black carbon exposure.
It is possible that collaborative international efforts can offer clues about how to limit soot pollution in the area.
Khan says she is troubled by her own research results, and that it is a difficult ethical question.
She goes to collect data about how quickly the snow and ice are disappearing, but it makes her think twice about how frequently she needs to visit the continent.
It could mean requiring cruise ships and vehicles to be electric or limiting the number of visitors each year.
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