Climate change could trigger gigantic deadly tsunamis from Antarctica, new study warns

Published

2 years ago

May 25, 2023

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Climate change could unleash gigantic tsunamis in the Southern Ocean by triggering underwater landslides in Antarctica, a new study warns.

By drilling into sediment cores hundreds of feet beneath the seafloor in Antarctica, scientists discovered that during previous periods of global warming — 3 million and 15 million years ago — loose sediment layers formed and slipped to send massive tsunami waves racing to the shores of South America, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

And as climate change heats the oceans, the researchers think there’s a possibility these tsunamis could be unleashed once more. Their findings were published May 18 in the journal Nature Communications.

Related: Widening chasm births Antarctic iceberg larger than Los Angeles

“Submarine landslides are a major geohazard with the potential to trigger tsunamis that can lead to huge loss of life,” Jenny Gales, a lecturer in hydrography and ocean exploration at the University of Plymouth in the U.K., said in a statement. “Our findings highlight how we urgently need to enhance our understanding of how global climate change might influence the stability of these regions and potential for future tsunamis.”

Researchers first found evidence of ancient landslides off Antarctica in 2017 in the eastern Ross Sea. Trapped underneath these landslides are layers of weak sediment crammed with fossilized sea creatures known as phytoplankton.

Scientists returned to the area in 2018 and drilled deep into the seafloor to extract sediment cores — long, thin cylinders of the Earth’s crust that show, layer by layer, the geological history of the region.

By analyzing the sediment cores, the scientists learned that the layers of weak sediment formed during two periods, one around 3 million years ago in the mid-Pliocene warm period, and the other roughly 15 million years ago during the Miocene climate optimum. During these epochs, the waters around Antarctica were 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) warmer than today, leading to bursts of algal blooms that, after they had died, filled the seafloor below with a rich and slippery sediment — making the region prone to landslides.

“During subsequent cold climates and ice ages these slippery layers were overlain by thick layers of coarse gravel delivered by glaciers and icebergs,” Robert McKay, director of the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington and co-chief scientist of International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 374 — which extracted the sediment cores in 2018 — told Live Science in an email. RELATED STORIES—1st mega-tsunami on record since antiquity was triggered by Tonga volcanic eruption

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The exact trigger for the region’s past underwater landslides isn’t known for sure, but the researchers have found a most-likely culprit: the melting of glacier ice by a warming climate. The ending of Earth’s periodic glacial periods caused ice sheets to shrink and recede, lightening the load on Earth’s tectonic plates and making them rebound upwards in a process known as isostatic rebound.

After the layers of weak sediment had built up in sufficient quantities, Antarctica’s continental upspringing triggered earthquakes that caused the coarse gravel atop the slippery layers to slide off the continental shelf edge — causing landslides that unleashed tsunamis.

The scale and size of the ancient ocean waves is not known, but the scientists note two relatively recent submarine landslides that generated huge tsunamis and caused significant loss of life: The 1929 Grand Banks tsunami that generated 42-foot-high (13 meters) waves and killed around 28 people off Canada’s Newfoundland coast; and the 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami that unleashed 49-foot-high (15 m) waves that claimed 2,200 lives.

With many layers of the sediment buried beneath the Antarctic seabed, and the glaciers on top of the landmass slowly melting away, the researchers warn that — if they’re right that glacial melting caused them in the past — future landslides, and tsunamis, could happen again.

“The same layers are still present on the outer continental shelf — so it is ‘primed’ for more of these slides to occur, but the big question is whether the trigger for the events is still in play.” McKay said. “We proposed isostatic rebound as a logical potential trigger, but it could be random failure, or climate regulated shifts in ocean currents acting to erode sediment at key locations on the continental shelf that could trigger slope failure. This is something we could use computer models to assess for in future studies.”

Politics

Victims’ families criticise ‘deeply sensitive decision’ to demolish Grenfell Tower

Published

1 hour ago

February 6, 2025

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Grenfell Tower to be demolished, as campaigners react to 'divisive and painful debate' over decaying block

Grenfell campaigners have reacted to the “deeply sensitive decision” by the deputy prime minister to demolish the tower block.

Victims’ families and survivors were given the news in a meeting attended by Angela Rayner on Wednesday night.

Grenfell Next of Kin, which represents some of the bereaved families, described it as a “deeply sensitive decision… after a thorough engagement process in person” following an “uncomfortable conversation with uncomfortable truths”.

In a statement on X the group said: “The lack of closure, the continuous discussions and consultations, the retraumatisation of a divisive and painful debate brings nothing to the table except pain and further division.

“We want a discussion about what will go in the Tower’s place so it can be seen and remembered forever. We need to re-imagine a future and rebuild our broken shattered lives and our families.”

The government has previously said there will be no changes to the site before the eighth anniversary of the fire disaster, which claimed 72 lives on 14 June 2017.

It is expected more details will be set out by ministers by the end of the week.

Engineering experts have said that while the tower remains stable, and it is safe for people to live, work and study nearby, its condition will worsen over time and there is no realistic prospect of bringing it back into use.

The latest advice issued to the government in September was that the building, or the part of it that was significantly damaged, should be taken down.

Meanwhile, another campaign group, Grenfell United, claimed Ms Rayner had not given a reason behind her decision during the meeting and refused to say how many of the victims’ families and survivors had been consulted.

In a statement, it said: “But judging from the room alone – the vast majority of whom were bereaved – no one supported her decision. But she claims her decision is based on our views.

“Ignoring the voices of bereaved on the future of our loved ones’ gravesite is disgraceful and unforgivable.”

Grenfell Next of Kin expressed a different opinion, suggesting the decision by Ms Rayner “must have been difficult” and adding that “all the previous Secretaries of State [for Housing, Communities and Local Government] avoided making a decision despite the harm it did to us and the community.”

Local Labour MP Joe Powell also defended Ms Rayner posting on X that following “intensive engagement with our community… the decision to start planning for the Tower to come down has not been taken lightly”.

What is left of the tower has stood in place since the tragedy, with a covering on the building featuring a large green heart accompanied by the words “forever in our hearts”.

Views have varied on what should happen to the site.

Some of the bereaved and survivors feel the tower should remain in place until there are criminal prosecutions over the failings which led to the disaster.

The final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, published in September, concluded the fire was the result of “decades of failure” by government and the construction industry to act on the dangers of flammable materials on high-rise buildings.

The west London tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms who made and sold the cladding and insulation, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said.

He said the “simple truth” is that all the deaths were avoidable and that those who lived in the tower were “badly failed” by authorities “in most cases through incompetence but, in some cases, through dishonesty and greed”.

However, the Metropolitan Police said last year that decisions on criminal charges for the Grenfell Tower blaze are not expected until the end of 2026.

It would mean a near 10-year wait for justice if anyone is ultimately charged – a period of time described by families as “unbearable”.

The disaster was Britain’s deadliest residential fire since the Second World War and began a national reckoning over the safety and conditions of social housing and tower blocks.

Separately, the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission has been consulting on plans for a permanent memorial in the area of the tower.

A shortlist of five potential design teams was announced last month, with a winner expected to be selected this summer to enable a planning application to be submitted in late 2026.

A government spokesperson said: “The priority for the deputy prime minister is to meet with and write to the bereaved, survivors and the immediate community to let them know her decision on the future of the Grenfell Tower.

“This is a deeply personal matter for all those affected, and the deputy prime minister is committed to keeping their voice at the heart of this.”

Politics

Conservatives pledge to tighten immigration rules in Reform fightback

Published

1 hour ago

February 6, 2025

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Conservatives pledge to tighten immigration rules in Reform fight back

The Conservative Party is pledging to tighten immigration rules after Reform topped a landmark poll for the first time earlier this week.

In her first major policy announcement as Tory Party leader, Kemi Badenoch is pledging to double the amount of time an immigrant needs to have been in the UK before claiming indefinite leave to remain from five to 10 years.

In order to claim indefinite leave to remain after 10 years, the individual must also meet new, tightened conditions.

These include not having claimed benefits or used social housing during the entire qualification period, not having a criminal record and being able to demonstrate that their household would be a “net contributor”.

Ms Badenoch accused Labour of being “not serious about tackling immigration” and said there needs to be a “new approach”.

“Our country is not a dormitory, it’s our home,” she said.

“The right to citizenship and permanent residency should only go to those who have demonstrated a real commitment to the UK. That’s why we should double the length of time before people can qualify for indefinite leave to remain from five to 10 years.

“The Conservative Party is under new leadership. We’re going to tell the hard truths about immigration.

“The pace of immigration has been too quick and the numbers coming too high for meaningful integration. We need to slow down the track for citizenship. A UK passport should be a privilege not an automatic right.

“Far from reducing the number of people coming into Britain, the Labour government are presiding over an incoming disaster.

“The Border Security Bill will actually make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the UK, let alone legal migrants. No one can trust Labour on immigration.”

The announcement comes just days after Reform topped a Sky News/YouGov poll for the first time as the party continues to shake up British politics.

The poll, taken on 2 February and 3 February, showed Nigel Farage’s party has edged in front on 25%, with Labour pushed into second on 24% and the Tories on 21%.

It also put the Lib Dems on 14% and Greens on 9%.

All the polling moves that push Reform UK to the top for the first time this week are within the margin of error and the overall picture remains unchanged – with Britain in a new period of three party politics in the polls.

According to the poll, one in five Tory voters at the last election would now vote for Reform.

The Sky News/YouGov poll also found Kemi Badenoch has slipped behind Nigel Farage when voters are asked whether they have a favourable or unfavourable opinion of the leaders.

Last month, Badenoch had a net favourability rating of -25, but that has now dropped to -29 this month.

This puts her below Farage, who had a net favourability rating of -32 last month, which has now risen to -27 this month.

Labour’s border security minister Dame Angela Eagle said: “While [the Conservatives] scramble around for relevance, this Labour government is getting on with clearing up the mess they left behind – raising deportations, returns and removals to the highest rate in six years, increasing the number of illegal working raids and cutting the costs of the asylum system.”