Proof of global-warming farce? NASA says Antarctic sea ice has INCREASED since 1970s
SEA ice around the south pole has INCREASED in volume over the past 40 years, a NASA study has found.
By
JON AUSTIN
PUBLISHED: 04:45, Fri, May 27, 2016 | UPDATED: 08:23, Fri, May 27, 2016
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NASA
The NASA study found sea ice grew at the Antarctic despite rising temperatures
The US space agency, which is one of the world's leading campaigners to highlight the threat of global warming, now spends a chunk of its annual budget using satellite data to investigate changes in our climate.
NASA experts set out to find out why the sea ice around the Antarctic was increasing in the face of global temperature increases, while ocean ice around the North Pole is retreating each year.
And the study found that despite mean temperature rises in the Southern Ocean, topping those elsewhere across the globe, the Antarctic appears to have been proofed against global warming.
A NASA spokesman said: "Why has the sea ice cover surrounding Antarctica been increasing slightly, in sharp contrast to the drastic loss of sea ice occurring in the Arctic Ocean? A new NASA-led study finds the geology of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are responsible."
A NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adsministration (NOAA) team led by Son Nghiem of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, used satellite radar, sea surface temperature, land form and bathymetry (ocean depth) data to study the physical processes and properties affecting Antarctic sea ice.
Mr Nghiem said: "Our study provides strong evidence that the behaviour of Antarctic sea ice is entirely consistent with the geophysical characteristics found in the southern polar region, which differ sharply from those present in the Arctic."
NASA
NASA graphic showing the location of the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current front
Location of the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current front (white contour), with -1 degree Celsius sea surface temperature lines (black contours) on Sept 22 each year from 2002-2009.
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The team found that Antarctic sea ice cover is dominated by first-year, new seasonal sea ice.
And, each year, the sea ice reaches its maximum extent around the frozen continent in September and retreats to about 17 per cent of that extent in February.
The spokesman said: "Since the late 1970s, its extent has been relatively stable, increasing just slightly, however, regional differences are observed.
"Scientists have previously floated various hypotheses to explain the behaviour of Antarctic sea ice, particularly in light of observed global temperature increases.
"Are changes in the ozone hole involved? Could fresh meltwater from Antarctic ice shelves be making the ocean surface less salty and more conducive to ice formation, since salt inhibits freezing?
"Are increases in the strength of Antarctic winds causing the ice to thicken? Something is protecting Antarctic sea ice, but a definitive answer has remained elusive."
Mr Nghiem and his team chose to try to crack the case by analysing radar 1999 to 2009 data from NASA's QuikScat satellite to trace the paths of Antarctic sea ice movements and map its different types.
NASA
Map of sea surface temperatures (in degrees Celsius) combined with sea surface temperature contour lines for -1 degree Celsius (black) and -1.4 degrees Celsius (green), plotted atop a National Ice Center map of the extent of Antarctic sea ice on Sept. 22, 2009.