People were when it was not Antarctica in the good times, tens of millions of years to see the birthplace of palms and baobabs, reptiles and marsupials. He had some of the same mountains there today, some of the same valleys and creeks. But it does not have the same address. Long ago, Antarctica was located in the middle latitudes, once part of Gondwana excellent up to that slowly broke to leave behind continental relatives such as Africa and South America. And then he went on his way, carried by continental drift of only 1 to 2 in. Every year, he wrapped up there, where it is today, organized by the tectonic ground in the world. There, the 5.4 million square meters. Mer largest continent of Australia and 2.9 million in Europe, 3.9 million-sunbathing only laterally, not vertically and will therefore always sunk in a freezer until the migration itself crusts, it brings the planet to a portion Friendly . For now, the Antarctica is buried under a layer of ice. Ft deep or on average 7,100 1.3 miles. The dense cover accounts for 90% of all the world’s ice and 70% of its fresh water, locked in a desert. Subscribe to Newsletter climate change is not just a wasteland for one.five, TIME. Antarctica is visiting the home of penguins, seals, whales, seagulls, krill, albatross and more. Like all continents, it must be complex food web; like all the continents which has its season and its landscapes and its mountains and valleys. There are seasons that could be worth; It is not a landscape that we could survive. But our species is not the only measure of the value of the continent. What’s more, all the ice ENTRAINED serve us well. They were in a world in Antarctica found elsewhere, would the ice water and the oceans would be lower, flooded what is now our shores. It was important for us, if we were born into this world. If it had been in the first place, not in Florida, we would not have built a Miami. But there are, and we did. And now, thanks to our industry and our sweet tooth fossil fuels, there is the increase in temperature and ice melting. The Arctic is already disappearing and Antarctica follows, threatens us with the flood of ice icecaps much we save. The numbers of an alarming history and say here is a story that we are all authoring day. This is an article in a series on the state of the global response to climate change. Read the rest of the stories and register for one.five, TIME climate change newsletter. Picture copyright by Paolo Pellegrin for Magnum Photos-TIME
These tables show how the levels on the high seas rise if the Antarctic ice continues to melt
