近日，澳大利亚詹姆斯库克大学
研究人员探究了一组环-南极章鱼的全进殷祖单核苷酸多态性，结果显示，只有在西南极冰盖完全崩溃的情况下，才有可能出现持久性、历史性的基因流信号。研究结果提供了第一个经验证据，即使在严格的气候缓解背景下，西南极冰盖损失的临界点也可能达到。
据悉，以海洋为基础的西南极冰盖（WAIS），被认为在未来的气候轨迹下容易发生不可逆转的崩溃，其临界点可能在《联合国巴黎协定》1.5-2℃的减缓变暖情景内。而了解过去类似温暖气候下的冰流失现象，可以解决这种不确定性，比如末次间冰期，当时全球海平面比现在高约5-10米m，全球平均气温比工业化前高0.5-1.5℃。
附：英文原文
Title: Genomic evidence for West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapse during the Last Interglacial
Author: Sally C. Y. Lau, Nerida G. Wilson, Nicholas R. Golledge, Tim R. Naish, Phillip C. Watts, Catarina N. S. Silva, Ira R. Cooke, A. Louise Allcock, Felix C. Mark, Katrin Linse, Jan M. Strugnell
Issue&Volume: 2023-12-22
Abstract: The marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered vulnerable to irreversible collapse under future climate trajectories, and its tipping point may lie within the mitigated warming scenarios of 1.5° to 2°C of the United Nations Paris Agreement. Knowledge of ice loss during similarly warm past climates could resolve this uncertainty, including the Last Interglacial when global sea levels were 5 to 10 meters higher than today and global average temperatures were 0.5° to 1.5°C warmer than preindustrial levels. Using a panel of genome-wide, single-nucleotide polymorphisms of a circum-Antarctic octopus, we show persistent, historic signals of gene flow only possible with complete WAIS collapse. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that the tipping point of WAIS loss could be reached even under stringent climate mitigation scenarios.
DOI: ade0664
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ade0664