Antarctica: Antarctica's Future

Antarctica is considered a desert due to the fact that there is more precipitation evaporated than there is precipitation in form of rain or snow. The snow flurries are usually caused by the wind. Besides being known for a dry, freezing, and windy climate, Antarctica is a large continent covered in glacial ice also considered fresh water.

Why does Antarctica have the freezing climate famously known around the globe? The water surrounding Antarctica, the ocean, is actually warmer than Antarctica itself. The reason for the rapid winds is that the colder air in Antarctica has higher pressure and then travels to the warmer air, the lower pressure. This causes the illusion of snow in form of precipitation, when in reality the snow is only being displaced by the wind. The freezing cold climate in Antarctica is mainly due to the low angle of sun rays received at its latitude. Antarctica loses more heat than it is able to retain. The massive amounts of snow and ice present in Antarctica have a great albedo effect, reflecting most of incident solar light back into space.

Albedo Effect: This image demonstrates that lighter colored surfaces, like snow and ice, reflect more sunlight, reflecting up to 80-65% more, than darker colored surfaces such as land and water. (image courtesy of http://www.cocorahs-albedo.org)

In 1,000 years into the future Antarctica will remain a barren ice land, still considered a dry desert. Although, greenhouse gases will continue to increase; causing a slight warmer climate for Antarctica. Channels may then begin to form between ice sheets, causing some glaciers to break off from each other.

In 10,000 years the similar greenhouse gas effect will only continue to evolve in intensity, exposing some dry land due to the melting of the ice in a slightly warmer climate. The land will not have as great as of an albedo as the ice did and will observe more sunlight, versus reflecting it back into space.

Although Antarctica is covered with thousands of feet of snow, in the distant future, about 100,000,000 years into the future, Antarctica may be an enriched temperate climate forest. A temperate forest refers to a forest that is located in a temperate climate, normally in between 23.5 degrees and 66.5 degrees north and south in latitude. Antarctica is on the move because of the drifting continental plates. Antarctica is predicted to pull north by the subduction zone at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. A subduction zone takes place at a convergent boundary where one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate. Since the continent, which would have been once covered in massive sheets of ice, has shifted north, receiving a greater amount of incident solar light, the climate will begin to be warmer causing dramatic changes to its landscape. The land will than begin to be exposed, forming soil and becoming an excellent habitat for vegetation.

Eventually, Antarctica will drift further north and be exposed to tropic climates, and inevitably become a dense rain forest many million years later.