Why Antarctica isn't melting much – yet

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18364-why-antarctica-isnt-melting-much--yet.html

Why Antarctica isn't melting much – yet

18:05 08 January 2010 by Fred Pearce

Antarctica is warming, but not melting anything like as much as expected. In fact, during the continent's summer this time last year, there was less melting than at any time in the 30 years that we have had reliable satellite measurements of the region.

The apparent contradiction is explained by the seasonal pattern of warming, say two glaciologists writing in http://www.agu.org/pubs/eos-news/">Eos, the weekly newspaper of the American Geophysical Union. The continent's winters and springs have warmed most, but it is still too cold in these seasons for anything to melt. Melting in Antarctica happens almost entirely in the summers, which have warmed very little, say Andrew Monaghan of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, and Marco Tedesco of the City College of New York.

John King of the British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge, warned against misinterpreting the lack of summer warming. "Climate change denialists will use this work as evidence that Antarctica is not warming, despite the authors saying their works show no such thing," he said.

Summer meltdown

Every year is different, says Tedesco. "In 2005, we had summer melting occurring inland as well as over the coastal ice shelves, and over areas up to 2500 metres above sea level." And even during the exceptionally low melt of last summer, ice on the Antarctic peninsula, which stretches out towards South America, continued to melt. The Wilkins ice shelf, which is attached to the peninsula, has been collapsing rapidly since February 2008.

…

[tabasco]

1. The South Pole shall have its day, too.

[happyslug]

2. Actual some of the better theories of global Warming Global explains this

Antarctica is the tallest and coldest Continent (Asia and South America have higher mountains BUT offset by the low lands of Siberia and India, thus overall Antarctica is higher). Global warming will lead to increase water absorption by the air currents, which leads to increase snow fall over the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Thus the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is expected to GROW during the next 50 or so years of Global Warming. We tend to forget that East Antarctica (Which includes the South Pole) has had ice even during previous inter-glacial periods, the last time East Antarctic was "ice free" was over 35 Million years ago, and has permanent ice sheets for only the lat 15 million years. For more see:
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/geo/croberts/downloads/papers-talks/Barrett%201999%20Antarctic%20climate%20history%20TAR3.pdf

For more see the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Antarctica

To understand the above time period the earth has had "Ice Ages" for only the last 740,000 years.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/06/040611080100.htm

Through both the Northern and Southern Latitudes have had ice only since about 2.588 Million years ago:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciation

Just pointing out that Global Warming includes increase snow fall in the South Pole given its location on the coldest and highest Continent on the planet (and the only Continent almost completely with the Arctic or Antarctic Circles).

Before I forget, let me remind people the above is in regard to the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) NOT the Smaller West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The WAIS is considered unstable for it is grounded BELOW sea level, so the warming oceans affect it directly (unlike the EAIS which is grounded while above Sea Level). The WAIS has been called the "Godzilla" of Global Warming, it could (and apparently has in the past) do a complete and total Collapse.

More on the WAIS:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x101586#101866
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1675587#1675884

More on the "Mad House Century" where world wide Sea Levels rose 20 feet then fell 80 feet within less then 100 years (This occurred 120,000 years ago at the start of the Last Ice Age):
http://www.imaja.com/as/environment/can/journal/madhousecentury.html