One minute read. Written by team I Kid You Not

Have you heard of global warming? It is affecting Antarctica – because this is the first time in history of  Earth that Antarctica  has reached to the hottest temperature of 20 degree Celsius.

Where is Antarctica ?

Antarctica is the coldest , driest and the southern-most continent on Earth – situated at the South Pole . It is the size of USA and Mexico combined! It is mostly  covered with ice and – did you know – that is one of the reasons why the Earth is not over heated.

Why is Antarctica important?

Like we said, Antarctica has 98% of the world’s ice and 70% of the world’s fresh water in ice form. So, ice from Antarctica melts slowly and flows into the water bodies on Earth, especially oceans. But now, because of global warming , the Earth is heating up and that extra heat is starting to melt the ice in Antarctica .

The ice is melting at a rapid rate causing  water bodies to overflow and causing the levels of oceans to rise rapidly (quickly). Also, Antarctica has many rare species of penguins and a variety of wildlife like polar bears . These species if not protected, can be lost forever.

Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. One of the reasons it is so cold is because of its Albedo effect – read on to know what that is..

Never heard, this – what’s the Albedo effect ?

Albedo effect occurs when the heat of the sun reflects back into the atmosphere – on the case of Antarctica the ice reflects back all the heat . This protects the Earth’s surface from absorbing excess or extra heat and allows the Earth to be cool. But now with the ice melting , the Earth’s surface is exposed to the heat , causing the Earth to get hotter.

Why is Antarctica melting?

There are many reasons why the ice sheets and glaciers of Antarctica are melting but one of the main reason is the increase in the heat levels of the Earth , which is called global warming.

The excess (extra) amount of heat captured by our Earth surface is unable to escape our atmosphere – and this is why the temperatures are rising , and the melting ice is causing levels of water bodies to rise.

This excessive melting  of ice is just one of many examples of climate change. Have you heard of teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who we wrote about?

Also, tell us, what are you doing to help the environment?