Antartic ice expanding.
21 April 2009, 12:27 PM
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Antarctic ice expanding.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-11949,00.html
ICE is expanding in much of Antarctica, contrary to the widespread public belief that global warming is melting the continental ice cap.
The results of ice-core drilling and sea ice monitoring indicate there is no large-scale melting of ice over most of Antarctica, although experts are concerned at ice losses on the continent's western coast.
Antarctica has 90 per cent of the Earth's ice and 80 per cent of its fresh water. Extensive melting of Antarctic ice sheets would be required to raise sea levels substantially, and ice is melting in parts of west Antarctica. The destabilisation of the Wilkins ice shelf generated international headlines this month.
However, the picture is very different in east Antarctica, which includes the territory claimed by Australia.
East Antarctica is four times the size of west Antarctica and parts of it are cooling. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research report prepared for last week's meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations in Washington noted the South Pole had shown "significant cooling in recent decades".
Australian Antarctic Division glaciology program head Ian Allison said sea ice losses in west Antarctica over the past 30 years had been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of east Antarctica.
"Sea ice conditions have remained stable in Antarctica generally," Dr Allison said.
The melting of sea ice -- fast ice and pack ice -- does not cause sea levels to rise because the ice is in the water. Sea levels may rise with losses from freshwater ice sheets on the polar caps. In Antarctica, these losses are in the form of icebergs calved from ice shelves formed by glacial movements on the mainland.
Last week, federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett said experts predicted sea level rises of up to 6m from Antarctic melting by 2100, but the worst case scenario foreshadowed by the SCAR report was a 1.25m rise.
Mr Garrett insisted global warming was causing ice losses throughout Antarctica. "I don't think there's any doubt it is contributing to what we've seen both on the Wilkins shelf and more generally in Antarctica," he said.
Dr Allison said there was not any evidence of significant change in the mass of ice shelves in east Antarctica nor any indication that its ice cap was melting. "The only significant calvings in Antarctica have been in the west," he said. And he cautioned that calvings of the magnitude seen recently in west Antarctica might not be unusual.
"Ice shelves in general have episodic carvings and there can be large icebergs breaking off -- I'm talking 100km or 200km long -- every 10 or 20 or 50 years."
Ice core drilling in the fast ice off Australia's Davis Station in East Antarctica by the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-Operative Research Centre shows that last year, the ice had a maximum thickness of 1.89m, its densest in 10 years. The average thickness of the ice at Davis since the 1950s is 1.67m.
A paper to be published soon by the British Antarctic Survey in the journal Geophysical Research Letters is expected to confirm that over the past 30 years, the area of sea ice around the continent has expanded.
Oh dear, global warming cancelled then. How will Govts tax us now?
Ooops, I'm sorry it's " Climate Change " now isn't it.
ICE is expanding in much of Antarctica, contrary to the widespread public belief that global warming is melting the continental ice cap.
The results of ice-core drilling and sea ice monitoring indicate there is no large-scale melting of ice over most of Antarctica, although experts are concerned at ice losses on the continent's western coast.
Antarctica has 90 per cent of the Earth's ice and 80 per cent of its fresh water. Extensive melting of Antarctic ice sheets would be required to raise sea levels substantially, and ice is melting in parts of west Antarctica. The destabilisation of the Wilkins ice shelf generated international headlines this month.
However, the picture is very different in east Antarctica, which includes the territory claimed by Australia.
East Antarctica is four times the size of west Antarctica and parts of it are cooling. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research report prepared for last week's meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations in Washington noted the South Pole had shown "significant cooling in recent decades".
Australian Antarctic Division glaciology program head Ian Allison said sea ice losses in west Antarctica over the past 30 years had been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of east Antarctica.
"Sea ice conditions have remained stable in Antarctica generally," Dr Allison said.
The melting of sea ice -- fast ice and pack ice -- does not cause sea levels to rise because the ice is in the water. Sea levels may rise with losses from freshwater ice sheets on the polar caps. In Antarctica, these losses are in the form of icebergs calved from ice shelves formed by glacial movements on the mainland.
Last week, federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett said experts predicted sea level rises of up to 6m from Antarctic melting by 2100, but the worst case scenario foreshadowed by the SCAR report was a 1.25m rise.
Mr Garrett insisted global warming was causing ice losses throughout Antarctica. "I don't think there's any doubt it is contributing to what we've seen both on the Wilkins shelf and more generally in Antarctica," he said.
Dr Allison said there was not any evidence of significant change in the mass of ice shelves in east Antarctica nor any indication that its ice cap was melting. "The only significant calvings in Antarctica have been in the west," he said. And he cautioned that calvings of the magnitude seen recently in west Antarctica might not be unusual.
"Ice shelves in general have episodic carvings and there can be large icebergs breaking off -- I'm talking 100km or 200km long -- every 10 or 20 or 50 years."
Ice core drilling in the fast ice off Australia's Davis Station in East Antarctica by the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-Operative Research Centre shows that last year, the ice had a maximum thickness of 1.89m, its densest in 10 years. The average thickness of the ice at Davis since the 1950s is 1.67m.
A paper to be published soon by the British Antarctic Survey in the journal Geophysical Research Letters is expected to confirm that over the past 30 years, the area of sea ice around the continent has expanded.
Oh dear, global warming cancelled then. How will Govts tax us now?
Ooops, I'm sorry it's " Climate Change " now isn't it.
Last edited by FlightMan; 21 April 2009 at 12:31 PM.
21 April 2009, 12:30 PM
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Now it's getting colder due to the expansion of the Antarctic ice cap we'll all have to turn up the heating, which in turn will accelerate global warming..... we're all doomed (again).
21 April 2009, 12:33 PM
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That's all right for the Aussies then. Their side of the earth's hemisphere will be OK, whilst our side will be overwhelmed by the melting ice!
21 April 2009, 12:42 PM
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Little old 'us' can never make a significant impact on climate 
We can foof up almost everything else, i.e. wipe out most of the large fauna and some of the flora
but can we have a significant effect on the gasses that make up our atmosphere 
Pull the other one 
We can foof up almost everything else, i.e. wipe out most of the large fauna and some of the flora
but can we have a significant effect on the gasses that make up our atmosphere Pull the other one
21 April 2009, 02:14 PM
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Maybe it's to do with the sun not being as hot as it used to be as (surprise, surprise) it ALSO goes through cycles spanning hundreds of years that no one really understands that could be the cause of changes in the climate.
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21 April 2009, 05:32 PM
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I thought it was funny that an expedition to the arctic to study *thinning ice cover* and other climate change/global warming/b*llux has hit bad weather ...... 
Just for Martin, I picked his fave paper to point to the story .... Climate change research: Weather hampers Arctic mission | Environment | The Guardian
" ... Despite rigorous testing ahead of the expedition, a pioneering "surface penetrating radar" designed to establish ice thickness without drilling and an onboard sledge computer kit have both been disabled by brutally cold temperatures. ... "
Dave
Just for Martin, I picked his fave paper to point to the story .... Climate change research: Weather hampers Arctic mission | Environment | The Guardian
" ... Despite rigorous testing ahead of the expedition, a pioneering "surface penetrating radar" designed to establish ice thickness without drilling and an onboard sledge computer kit have both been disabled by brutally cold temperatures. ... "
Dave
21 April 2009, 08:34 PM
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p.s. Can we have a Worky-Urly please!
21 April 2009, 10:24 PM
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But " ... It's the southern ozone hole whatdunit. That's why Antarctic sea ice is growing while at the other pole, Arctic ice is shrinking at record rates. It seems CFCs and other ozone-depleting chemicals have given the South Pole respite from global warming. But only temporarily. According to John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey, the effect will last roughly another decade before Antarctic sea ice starts to decline as well ... " [Emphasis mine - Dave]
Or probably the story quoted first ... Revealed: Antarctic ice growing, not shrinking | The Australian
For someone who inderstands the science involved ... Rise of sea levels is 'the greatest lie ever told' - Telegraph
Or maybe it'll just take longer ... Study: West Antarctic Melt a Slow Affair - Dot Earth Blog - NYTimes.com
But it's one of natures wonders ... Melting Antarctic Ice Part of Natural Cycle | The Resilient Earth
Oh, and more on the Catlin survey to the arctic I mention above ... Arctic Ice Thickness Measured From Buoys Watts Up With That?
Enjoy a little light reading ...
Dave
22 April 2009, 01:15 AM
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