Black carbon-impacted areas seeing snowpack shrinking by up to 23 millimetres water equivalent every summer
Black carbon (BC) concentration in Antarctica is considerably higher around research stations and popular tourist destinations than other parts of the continent, according to a new report.
Black carbon-impacted areas are seeing a shrinking of snowpack on the Antarctic Peninsula and associated archipelagoes by up to 23 millimetres water equivalent every summer, the study showed.
BC, a byproduct of fossil fuels, reduces the surface albedo and can lead to earlier and more rapid snow melt.
Black carbon content in snow surrounding research facilities and popular shore tourist-landing sites was 2-4 nanogram per gram of snow (ng / g), the report published in Nature Communications February 22, 2022 showed.
This is well below BC concentrations typical of other remote regions but is considerably above background levels measured elsewhere in the continent (1 ng / g).
As many as 76 research stations are active within the Antarctic Treaty area and provide accommodation for around 5,500 people in summers, according to data collated from the Antarctic Station Catalogue of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs and the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat.
Around 74,401 visitors travelled to Antarctica during October 2019-April 2020 — a 32 per cent increase from the 2018-2019 season and more than twice the total a decade ago, according to a July 2020 communique of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.
Researchers led by Raúl R Cordero, Universidad de Santiago de Chile reported on measurements of the BC concentration in snow samples from 28 sites covering an area of 2,000 kilometre from the northern tip of Antarctica to the southern Ellsworth Mountains.
Background levels of BC in the Antarctic cryosphere is expressed as a concentration in mass per unit mass of meltwater extracted (ng / g).
Predominant sources of black carbon or soot are combustion-related, namely fossil fuels for transportation, solid fuels for industrial and residential uses as well as open burning of biomass.
An April 2019 study published in Frontiers in Earth Science found elevated refractory black carbon concentrations (rBC) near the Palmer Station especially, compared to low concentrations found on Biscoe Island.
Palmer Station is the smallest of the three permanent scientific research stations operated by the United States Antarctic Program.
BC footprint of local activities in Antarctica has increased with vessels, airplanes, diesel power plants, generators, helicopters and trucks — all black carbon sources.
The IPCC sixth assessment report said that the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica have been losing mass since at least 1990, with the highest loss rate during 2010–2019 and warned that they are projected to continue to lose mass.
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