The melting of the Arctic, one of the main consequences of climate change, has revealed a hidden mountain that until now was unknown.
Known as ‘nunatak’ by some in the Inuit language, it is a rock regarding 30 meters high on the ice cap and which is located in the interior of Greenland, regarding 2,205 meters above sea level. This rock formation was found by the SOS Arctic 2022 expedition. The group led by the explorer Ramón Larramendi found this mountain during a journey made with a zero-emission vehicle called ‘Wind Sled’.
An expedition that was launched last April with the aim of finding out, through microorganisms, the causes of climate change that affects the poles of the Earth. The experts assured that this rock formation had not been known to date, because it did not appear on any map. Larramendi himself drew the following conclusion once the discovery was made.
“Climate change is advancing by leaps and bounds in the Arctic,” he told ‘EFE‘. At the same time, he argued that the fact that the poles are melting faster than expected will have negative consequences for the Earth, since “It means that the level of the oceans rises.”. The researchers also collected samples from the interior of the ice for the SOLID space investigation, and air samples for the project of the MicroAirPolar group of the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Regarding this second project, the objective of the researchers is none other than to develop a map of microbial populations at the poles. With this, it is intended to obtain more data on the current situation of the poles and their resistance to climate change.
What would happen in case of total melting in the Arctic?
The Arctic ice surface has been reduced in recent years. Last 2021, it was 4.72 million square kilometres, a figure lower than that of previous years. This is the lowest ice level data in the last 5,500 years.
In the event of a scenario with a total melting of the Arctic Ocean, it might have great consequences for life. The effects for Earth would be catastrophic. In the worst scenario, it would be a global radioactive warming That would be the equivalent of adding a million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in one fell swoop.