Comments on: Where’s the Ice? http://clanwebb.com/2007/06/30/wheres-the-ice/ Thoughts and activities of the Webb family Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:11:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: JC http://clanwebb.com/2007/06/30/wheres-the-ice/comment-page-1/#comment-5154 JC Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:48:35 +0000 http://clanwebb.com/2007/06/30/wheres-the-ice/#comment-5154 Good advice to look at all the data. While east Antarctica is cold, the Antarctic Peninsula has "experienced <a href="http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/press/press_releases/press_release.php?id=91" rel="nofollow">some of the fastest warming on Earth</a>, nearly 3°C over the last half-century". The hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole causes <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/302/5643/273" rel="nofollow">cooling in the stratosphere</a>. This increases circular winds around the continent <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/296/5569/895" rel="nofollow">preventing warmer air from reaching eastern Antarctica and the Antarctic plateau</a>. The flip side of this is west Antarctica and the peninsula warms at a greater rate. While East Antartica is gaining ice due to increased precipitation, <a href="http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg18925424.700" rel="nofollow">Antartica is overall losing ice</a>. This is mostly due to melting in West Antarctica which recently featured the <a href="http://www.amarsodyssey.com/2007/06/25/west-antarctica-melt/" rel="nofollow">largest melting observed by satellites in the last 30 years</a>. As well as melting, <a href="http://cleanergy.blogspot.com/2007/06/warnings-from-warming-world-study-finds.html" rel="nofollow">Antartic glaciers are accelerating</a> further adding to sea level rise. Good advice to look at all the data. While east Antarctica is cold, the Antarctic Peninsula has “experienced some of the fastest warming on Earth, nearly 3°C over the last half-century”. The hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole causes cooling in the stratosphere. This increases circular winds around the continent preventing warmer air from reaching eastern Antarctica and the Antarctic plateau. The flip side of this is west Antarctica and the peninsula warms at a greater rate.

While East Antartica is gaining ice due to increased precipitation, Antartica is overall losing ice. This is mostly due to melting in West Antarctica which recently featured the largest melting observed by satellites in the last 30 years. As well as melting, Antartic glaciers are accelerating further adding to sea level rise.

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