Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Antarctica Can't Decide If It's Coming Or Going

I'm sure most of us have heard the hyperbolic reports about Antarctica lately:
“Today we present observational evidence that the [ice sheet] has gone into irreversible retreat,” said Eric Rignot, the lead author of a study claiming the ice sheet was collapsing. “It has reached the point of no return.”

Rignot told reporters at a press conference hosted by NASA that the slow collapse of the glacier could raise sea levels between 10 and 13 feet.
That's part of the Antarctic ice sheet.  What about another part?
Antarctic sea ice coverage reached record levels for April, hitting 3.5 million square miles — the largest on record.

It was a cold summer down in Antarctica, with sea ice coverage growing about 43,500 square miles a day, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSDC). April 2014 beats the previous sea-ice coverage record from April 2008 by a whopping 124,000 square miles.

But even with autumn in full swing in the South Pole, “record levels continue to be set in early May,” reports the NSDC. Sea ice levels have been “significantly above” satellite data averages for 16 consecutive months...

Antarctica has seen huge sea-ice growth throughout this year and last, which caught many climate scientists by surprise — some more literally than others.

In late December, a group of tourists and climate scientists got caught in Antarctic ice pack about 1,500 miles south of Tasmania. The expedition sought to document how global warming has changed the region in the last century, but instead made world headlines for getting stuck in record levels of ice.
Like every other woman, Mother Nature has trouble making up her mind sometimes :-)

4 comments:

allen (in Michigan) said...

Yeah well, while everyone was having a baby over the Antarctic ice sheet the Arctic ice sheet increased in area so much that the polar bears are in trouble again. Too much ice, like too little, makes it tough for polar bears to make a living. But a growing Arctic ice sheet doesn't fit the narrative so the polar bears on their own now.

pseudotsuga said...

Yeah, that doom-laden headline made the front page in the local papers. And where was the report about the record sea ice? uhhh....
Modern American journopinionism at its finest, both on the editing and writing staff. No media bias here, folks, just move along and yell at Fox news, instead.

Unknown said...

Also like every other woman, she thinks it's a mans fault.

neko said...

*Slow clap for Chad Vader*

I applaud you, sir! Well done!