Global warming likely to change world map: Expert

ANKARA

Not wars, but climate change will change the world map in the 21st century, according to a Turkish polar scientist.
Burcu Özsoy, former head of the Polar Research Center (PolReC) at Istanbul Technical University, pleaded people to change their daily habits and direction to save the climate.

“We must determine our direction by changing our daily habits and production techniques as well as creating future predictions based on data. Otherwise, the climate will be the determinant of the new world map,” she said.

Explaining significant aspects of a Turkish documentary, “The Black Box of the Planet: Antarctica,” recorded in the continent, Özsoy said it has depicted efforts of scientists to understand the world’s past climate, and offers hints about what awaits in the future.

Noting that the documentary was prepared as part of Turkey’s fourth National Antarctic Science Expedition last year, she said the highest temperature, the team experienced was just 20.75C on an island off the coast of the peninsula.

In this expedition, 24 scientists attempted to find scientific answers to various mysteries of the frozen continent.

On the way back, the crew also witnessed the melting of a sea passage that had been frozen for a long time, which accelerated their return, but increasing anxiety, she added.

Underlining that all the glaciers in the polar regions may not disappear, Özsoy said the melting of a few of them will lead to a border change in many regions. “Therefore, millions of people will have to migrate,” she added.

She said it was sad to witness penguins and whales migrating to southern latitudes in search of food, predicting that humans will experience this situation in the future.

Climate change could submerge cities with an altitude below 70 meters as the sea level will rise due to the glacier melting, she said. “Can you imagine that London, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York under the sea waters?” she asked.

The documentary not only brought the polar atmosphere to homes of millions but also explained how the studies in the region will shape the future, she added.