When the Ice Pauses, the Storm Gathers: Climate Change’s Next Wave

Motaher Hossain :

Climate change is reshaping the Earth, altering ecosystems, biodiversity, and the very balance of nature. One of its most striking signs is the rapid melting of glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic. For decades, scientists have warned of this crisis, yet recent research shows that in the past twenty years the rate of polar ice loss has slowed somewhat. At first glance this has sparked cautious optimism, but experts quickly remind us that this slowdown is temporary and not a sign of recovery. Global warming has not abated; rather, natural climate cycles have briefly moderated the pace of ice loss.
A study by Dr. M.R. England of the University of Exeter, along with colleagues J. Screen, A.C. Chan, and L.M. Polvani of Columbia University, published in geophysical research letters under the title “Minimal Arctic Sea Ice Loss in the Last 20 Years, Consistent with Internal Climate Variability,” explains the phenomenon. The researchers show that variations such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Variability have temporarily cooled polar seas, slowing the melt. Data reveal that from 1993 to 2012, the world lost about 1.3 million square kilometers of sea ice per decade, but over the past two decades that figure dropped to about 350,000 square kilometers.
While the numbers seem encouraging, they do not reflect a change in the underlying trend. Dr. England likens it to a ball rolling downhill: it may slow on a flat stretch, but gravity will inevitably accelerate its fall. The same fate awaits the polar ice sheets once this pause ends, threatening higher sea levels, ecological imbalance, and severe human consequences.
The impact of climate change stretches far beyond the poles. Since the 1980s, roughly 10,000 cubic kilometers of polar sea ice have disappeared, altering ocean currents, destabilizing weather systems, and increasing risks worldwide. Rising seas threaten to engulf island nations and low-lying coasts. Thawing Siberian permafrost risks releasing methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide. Wildlife struggles to adapt: polar bears lose hunting grounds, salmon find rivers too warm, and coral reefs bleach under ocean acidification. Meanwhile, rainfall patterns shift, storms intensify, droughts spread, and floods devastate entire communities.
Bangladesh, despite contributing only 0.40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, stands among the ten most climate-vulnerable nations. Its low-lying coastal areas may submerge within fifty years if warming continues unchecked. The last half-century has already brought hotter days and nights, declining heavy rainfall in the north that raises drought risks, and, at the same time, heavier downpours in cities that lead to waterlogging. Agriculture, the backbone of the economy, struggles under heat stress, salinity, and other unpredictable seasons, threatening the livelihoods of millions.
Scientists emphasize that this crisis is not part of some natural rhythm of the Earth but rather a direct consequence of human activity—burning fossil fuels, razing forests, and industrializing without restraint. Global temperatures have risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, edging dangerously close to the 1.5-degree threshold beyond which irreversible damage may unfold. The future will likely see wetter regions growing wetter, drier areas turning harsher, and extreme weather events becoming the norm, making survival increasingly difficult, especially for the world’s poor.
The temporary slowdown in ice melt should not lull humanity into complacency. Instead, it must serve as a warning and an opportunity to act before the decline accelerates again. Urgent global action is essential: reducing fossil fuel use, shifting to renewable energy, protecting forests, changing patterns of overconsumption, and building stronger international cooperation.
Above all, justice demands that the wealthy nations, whose lifestyles drive this crisis, take greater responsibility, as the burden falls hardest on the vulnerable over the last 50 years in Bangladesh, daytime heat has steadily increased, while nights have grown less cool. Heavy rainfall days declined in some regions, raising drought risks in the north, while cities face intensified downpours and waterlogging. Agriculture is under strain, with crops failing under heat stress over the last 50 years in Bangladesh, daytime heat has steadily increased, while nights have grown less cool. Heavy rainfall days declined in some regions, raising drought risks in the north, while cities face intensified downpours and waterlogging. Agriculture is under strain, with crops failing under heat stress.
Scientists emphasize that human activities—burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and unchecked industrialization—are primarily responsible for the rapid pace of climate change. Unlike natural cycles of past ice ages and warm periods, today’s warming is anthropogenic. Global temperatures have already risen by 1.2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
The future is stark: wetter regions will grow wetter, drier ones drier, making survival increasingly difficult. Without global action cutting fossil fuel use, reducing consumption, planting trees, and international cooperation our planet risks becoming uninhabitable.
The tragedy is that the lifestyles of the rich world impose suffering on poorer countries like Bangladesh. Unless urgent steps are taken, the cost of inaction will be catastrophic—socially, economically, and ecologically in countries like Bangladesh.
Unless decisive measures are taken, the cost of inaction will be catastrophic. Climate change will not only reshape landscapes and ecosystems but will also destabilize economies, societies, and the very future of human civilization.

(The writer is a journalist, general secretary, Bangladesh Climate Change Journalists Forum).