A leading Antarctic scientist has urged the Albanese government to pay closer attention to abrupt changes under way in the southern continent, warning they will affect Australians in ways that are little understood and research into them is drastically underfunded.

The head of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, Prof Matt King, said he found it embarrassing how little was known about the local and global ramifications of changes including a historic drop in floating sea ice cover, the accelerating melting of giant ice sheets and the slowing of a deep ocean current known as the Southern Ocean overturning circulation.

King said they were likely to affect temperature and rainfall patterns across Australia in different ways – changes that could transform communities and affect the viability of some agricultural industries – and hasten sea level rise along the coast. . . .

“We need a champion in cabinet who can drive forward a multi-decadal agenda in the Antarctic,” King said. “Perhaps one of the weaknesses is that Antarctica is seen as an environmental problem, but it is an all-of-government problem.”

He added: “The Australian economy, and the global economy, is set up on Antarctica being as it has been. We’re moving to a phase where Antarctica won’t be like that any more.”

The changes in the Antarctic region have raised serious concerns about its immediate health and coincided with evidence that longer-term transformations linked to the climate crisis have started sooner than had been assumed was likely.

Sea ice cover in the ocean surrounding the continent crashed for six months straight to a level far below anything on the satellite record. One example of its impact: a peer-reviewed paper found an earlier decline in 2022 was likely to have caused a “catastrophic breeding failure” that killed thousands of emperor penguin chicks.

This undated image provided by British Antarctic Survey, shows the North Cove, in Antarctic. No matter how much the world cuts back on carbon emissions, a key and sizable chunk of Antarctica is essentially doomed to an “unavoidable” melt, a new study found. (Michael Shortt/British Antarctic Survey via AP)

Separate papers found the Southern Ocean overturning circulation had slowed by about 30% since the 1990s and could drop off much further by mid-century due to meltwater from the continent’s ice sheets if greenhouse gas emissions were not significantly reduced. Scientists said this could generate a cascade of impacts to push up sea levels, alter weather patterns and starve marine life of a vital source of nutrients. Past changes in ocean circulations have happened over more than 1,000 years. The paper said in this case it could happen within decades, with relatively abrupt consequences for lives and livelihoods.