Antarctica Data Cards — Ngā Raraunga
Lesson 1 · Activity 2 (Read the Data) · Years 9–10
Ngā Raraunga · The Numbers
Print one set per pair and cut along the dashed lines. Each card carries a real, sourced figure about Antarctica and Aotearoa. Pairs read all four, then complete the three tasks below.
🧊 The ice holds a lot of sea
The Antarctic Ice Sheet locks up about 54 metres of potential sea-level rise — more than Greenland (~7 m) and every mountain glacier on Earth (~0.5 m) combined. Its most vulnerable part, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, could alone raise global seas by up to 5 metres if it collapses.
🇳🇿 NZ scientists are racing to find out how fast
In 2025 a New Zealand–led team (the SWAIS2C project) drilled through half a kilometre of ice and pulled up a 228-metre core of mud and rock from beneath the ice sheet — physical evidence of when Antarctica's ice melted in past warm periods, used to predict when it might again.
🌊 What it means for our coast
NZ sea level is projected to rise 0.11–0.25 m by 2050 and 0.53–0.94 m by 2100 (middle-of-the-road emissions). Because parts of NZ are also sinking, some areas face closer to 1 m by 2100 — and Wellington could reach 30 cm by ~2040, decades earlier than once thought.
🔄 The connection isn't simple
Counter-intuitively, fresh meltwater pouring off Antarctica cools the ocean surface to the south-east of New Zealand (Pauling et al., 2025), shifting our currents and weather. Antarctica and Aotearoa are physically bound together through the Southern Ocean.
Mahi Takirua · Work With the Data
- Rank (5 min): Order the four cards by how soon they affect your community. Be ready to justify your top choice.
- Translate (4 min): Pick one figure and rewrite it so a Year 5 student would understand it — keep the number, change the words.
- Question (3 min): Which card most surprised you, and what does it make you want to find out next?
Ngā Puna · Sources (verified)
Pauling et al. (2025), Impacts of Antarctic Ice Mass Loss on New Zealand Climate, Geophysical Research Letters · NIWA Sea-level rise & NZ SeaRise projections · Naish et al. (2023), Melting ice and rising seas — connecting projected change in Antarctica's ice sheets to communities in Aotearoa NZ, Journal of the Royal Society of NZ · SWAIS2C sediment-core expedition, RNZ News (2025) · Antarctic Ice Sheet potential sea-level contribution: Antarctic Science Platform.