Northward winds are driving the record growth of winter sea ice around Antarctica, which stands in contrast to the extensive melting of the Arctic sea ice in recent years, scientists reported Sunday.
Their new research, based on 19 years of daily ice-motion measurements recorded by four satellites of the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, highlights how geography, weather and climate patterns are affecting the planet's polar regions in different ways.
Their analysis documented for the first time that long-term changes in the drift of annual sea ice around Antarctica were strongly affected by winds. The area of ocean covered by sea ice grew markedly in regions where the prevailing winds spread out the loosely compacted ice floes, they reported. It shrank in areas where the wind blew the floating ice up against the shore.This has been previously reported and is well known among folks who are open to continuing scientific dialogue on global warming.
The "19 years of daily ice-motion measurements" is interesting. This number of years corresponds very closely to when global warming appeared to end, 16 years ago.
Winds, by the way, are also explaining a lot of other climatic/weather phenomena related to European glacier activity.
I believe it was CRC, but I could be wrong, who noted that with Arctic ice shrinking, and Antarctic ice growing, there is a risk that the earth could tip over.
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Other ocean notes:
This is one of my favorite stories: 1.5 million new species of phytoplankton during "heath check" of the earth's oceans. It's an incredible story. 1.5 million new species. Also here. But wow, we need to clean up that plastic. Biodegradable plastic is where we need to put research dollars.
Current book reading: The Whale: In Search of The Giants of the Sea, Philip Hoare, c. 2008/2010 (The Leviathan in Great Britain). I am currently in my "ocean phase of reading." Maybe more on that later.
A more detailed article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/11/poles-scientists-antarctic-sea-ice
ReplyDelete"The Arctic is losing sea ice five times faster than the Antarctic is gaining it, so, on average, the Earth is losing sea ice very quickly. There is no inconsistency between our results and global warming."
It is the risk of the earth tipping over that concerns me, with all that ice melting in the Arctic.
DeleteSeriously, from the Guardian article in the comment above:
Delete"But in other areas, sea ice was being added as sea water left behind ice being blown away from the coast froze. The net effect is that there has been an extra 17,000 sq km of sea ice each year since 1978 – about a tenth of a percent of the maximum sea ice cover."
To repeat: The net effect is that there has been an extra 17,000 sq km of sea ice each year since 1978 – about a tenth of a percent of the maximum sea ice cover."
My earth did flip. Now my globe has the Antarctic on the bottom, held down by the weight.
ReplyDeleteAnon 1
Abraxas is snowed in. Roads closed. In ND. HQ in SAT. Nice day. Climate change.
Interesting....
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