Seaice in Antarctica.TotalAntarctic sea ice has actually increasedslightly since 1979(according to t
Seaice in Antarctica.TotalAntarctic sea ice has actually increasedslightly since 1979(according to the satellite record). But this small increase isdwarfed by the severe decrease in sea ice in the Arctic. Overall,global sea ice is declining.Inthe Arctic, the downward trend is consistent across all sectors,months and seasons. It is more complex in the Antarctic, where thereare wide fluctuations from year to year.Seaice cover expanded in most of the Antarctic (Southern) Ocean from 1979 to 2015. However, it decreased substantially in the Bellingshausen andAmundsen Seas. These two seas are close to the Antarctic Peninsula,which has warmed significantly in recent decades.Inthe Arctic, the complete disappearance of summer sea ice would be adrastic departure from the historical norm. But in the Antarctic,sea ice already melts nearly completely in the summer. Even ifAntarctic ice completely disappeared during summer, the impact onEarth’s climate system would be much smaller than the same thinghappening in the Arctic.Thereare other atmospheric influences in the Antarctic that make thingsmore complex. For example, an ozone hole develops over the Antarcticevery year in spring. This intensifies a vortex of winds that circlethe South Pole. The stronger these winds are, the more isolated theAntarctic atmosphere becomes.Itis more difficult to predict how Antarctic ice could change withglobal warming than in the Arctic. Climate models predict thatAntarctic sea ice will respond more slowly than in the Arctic, but along-term decline is still expected as temperatures continue to rise. -- source link
#geography#oceanology#meteorology#climate change#antarctica#arctic circle#antarctic peninsula#south pole#antarctic ocean#bellingshausen sea#amundsen sea#ice#sea ice#ozone layer#wind