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Climate Change Means Less Ice. And More Ice.
 Of course. Why didn't they think of this years ago?While the North Pole has been losing sea ice over the years, the water nearest the South Pole has been gaining it. Antarctic sea ice hit a record 7.51 million square miles in September. That happened just days after reports of the biggest loss of Arctic sea ice on record. While the Arctic is open ocean encircled by land, the Antarctic - about 1.5 times the size of the U.S. - is land circled by ocean, leaving more room for sea ice to spread. That geography makes a dramatic difference in the two polar climates. The Arctic ice responds more directly to warmth. In the Antarctic, the main driver is wind, Maksym and other scientists say. Changes in the strength and motion of winds are now pushing the ice farther north, extending its reach. I'm hoping phil_b has some insight here. Mark Serreze, director of the snow and ice data center, says computer models have long predicted that Antarctica would not respond as quickly to global warming as other places. Since 1960, the Arctic has warmed the most of the world's regions, and Antarctica has warmed the least, according to NASA data. So how does that relate to more ice? You just made an argument for not-shrinking-so-fast, not growing. Posted by: Bobby 2012-10-14 |
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