Credit: Katherine Joy, The University of Manchester, The Lost Meteorites of Antarctica project.Antarctica harbors numerous large meteorite concentrations at its surface, and as such, the icy continent consists of an unparalleled wealth of information on our Solar System, allowing us to understand, for example, the emergence of life on Earth, and how the Moon was formed.A study brought out by scientists from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, ETH Zurich, WSL Birmensdorf, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel highlights a quick disappearance of meteorites due to worldwide warming, a loss with far-reaching consequences for our understanding and understanding of extraterrestrial life.Using artificial intelligence to integrate satellite observations of the continent with climate design projections, the researchers determine that for every tenth of a degree of boost in global air temperature level, 5,100 to 12,200 meteorites are lost from the surface of the ice sheet. By 2050, about one quarter of meteorites will be lost, and this can increase to three-quarters by the end of the century, depending on future greenhouse gas emissions.Mechanism of Meteorite LossVeronica Tollenaar, PhD researcher (FNRS) at the Laboratoire de Glaciologie (GLACIOL), Faculty of Science– ULB, who co-led the study describes that “even when temperatures of the ice are well below no, the dark meteorites warm so much in the sun that they can melt the ice straight under the meteorite. The research study reveals that due to the currently continuous warming, each year about 5,000 meteorites are lost, surpassing the pace at which Antarctic meteorites are gathered by an aspect five.Harry Zekollari, Department of Water and Climate (VUB) and Laboratoire de Glaciologie (ULB) who co-led the study urges the requirement for a major international effort: “To secure this vital extraterrestrial material, we require to coordinate the healing and magnify of Antarctic meteorites before we lose them to environment modification.