Welcome and General Information about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Welcome to our site. Our PSA Project was centered around the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, a growing concern for environmentalists. Along with our PSA, we’ve included some other educational resources linked here. Please enjoy and absorb.
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, or WAIS, is a large sprawl of glaciers, including the Thwaites glacier, also known as the doomsday glacier. Scientists have been closely monitoring this part of Antarctica since much of the ice sits below sea level. East Antarctica, while still a concern, is above sea level and isn’t as prone to destabilization from warming seawater. Since the WAIS, particularly Thwaites, sits below sea level in a valley-like structure, warm sea water has been eroding the grounding line or the area where the ice meets the earth below. If water undercuts this, the ice above sea level breaks off and melts, contributing to sea level rise. Thwaites is especially a cause for concern because its geological placement essentially makes it a dam for many other glaciers and structures of the WAIS. With carbon emissions constantly rising, bringing higher and higher global temperatures, the window through which humanity can hope to preserve the structure of the WAIS is narrowing.
(P.S. The above informational blurb came from the cut script!)
Educational Climate Resources
The following websites are educational sources utilized in hopes that our audience will continue to educate themselves on this subject, and take decisive action once they’ve done so.
To find out more, visit:
CLIMATE.NASA.GOV
The page below is from AntarcticGlaciers.org and contains more detailed information surrounding the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The site also includes helpful visuals like topographic maps and models of what a melting glacier looks like.
WEST ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET
This next page is from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and explains what we as individuals, and larger systemic structures, can do to reduce our carbon emissions, reducing the chance of the WAIS collapsing. The actions that pertain to individuals are small, but can total a larger sum if enough people commit to reducing their harm on the environment. The actions that are in the hands of companies and governments are grander and less likely to be achieved, but would mean an incredible amount towards environmentalism if taken.
WHAT WE CAN DO
This next article is from The Guardian, to remind readers that while it is helpful to reduce individual carbon emissions, the largest contributors to carbon content are large corporations. These corporations put blame on individuals rather than the vast overconsumption they partake in. Now that you’re aware of who is really responsible for the spiking greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, you can use your political power to implement restrictions on these companies. Voting is incredibly important for the environment as climate-conscious politicians are becoming more and more popular each year. Vote responsibly.
JUST 100 COMPANIES RESPONSIBLE FOR 71% OF CARBON EMISSIONS, STUDY SAYS
Other various resources
BASICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
ARCTIC SEA ICE NEWS
GLOBAL CARBON ATLAS
CLAIRE YEZBAK
CLAIRE YEZBAK ON CLIMATE CHANGE
This website — which has been created for Peter Terezakis’s Abrupt Climate Change Class — encapsulates Claire Yezbak’s understanding of the course.
Claire is a Senior at NYU Tisch School of the Arts studying Film & Television. Yezbak RESUME
She has worked on various film projects at NYU, always promoting sustainability on set. After taking Peter’s course, she plans to work on more projects centered around Climate Change and believes she can tackle the topic in a nuanced & digestible manner.
Though Claire does grapple with the ethics of the money-hungry film industry (film projects are unreasonably pricey, and that money is arguably better suited elsewhere in a world so bleak), she also believes it to be a palpably powerful medium for change. She has studied the intersection between art/media & public policy extensively and will continue to study the topic in hopes of creating content that promotes real change — a goal that often feels unattainable. Still, despair is a mindset one mustn’t have to find success in inspiring change.
Claire is grateful to have received such a vast expansion of knowledge on the topic, especially with regard to the neverending surplus of undeniable scientific evidence.
This class has aided Claire as a creator; her future work will undoubtedly reflect this. 