Most of Antarctica is heated, not cooled
Scientists studying climate change have long believed that while most of the planet warmed at a steady rate, much Antarctic - The ice of East Antarctica (East Antarctic Ice Sheet) - Really cool.
But a new study shows that for the past 50 years, much Antarctic warming at a rate similar to that of the outside world. In fact, the heat in western Antarctica is larger than the cooling in the eastern Antarctic, meaning that on average the continent warms, as reported by Eric Steig, Professor University of Washington and director of the Research Center UW.
The "western Antarctica has a very different place from the eastern Antarctic, and there is a physical barrier, the Mountains Transantarctic, which is separated into two, "says Eric Steig major contributor to the publication which documented warming of the Antarctic, published in issue 22 of January, in the journal Nature.
Long been considered a relatively small area known as Antarctic Peninsula fired, but the rest of the continent - Including West Antarctica, the ice is more vulnerable to collapse - psychotan.
The Steig noted that the layer of the west Antarctic ice, with an average elevation of 6,000 feet above sea level, is substantially lower than Eastern Antarctica, which has an average elevation of more than 10,000 feet. While the entire continent is essentially a desert, western Antarctica subject to the relatively warm, wet storms and takes much more than snow Eastern Antarctica.
The other authors of the publication is D avid Schneider of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Bo ulder, Colo rado The Scott Rutherford of Roger Williams University in Bristol, o Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University o Josefino Comiso center space flight at NASA's Goddard Greenbelt, MD, and o Drew Shindell of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. . This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, USA
The researchers devised a statistical technique that uses data from satellites and Antarctic weather stations to make a fresh assessment of trends in temperature.
"People are calculated on their heads instead of doing simple math," said Steig. "While other estimates previously made, had no real advantage of satellite data, which provide critical information on the spatial patterns of temperature change."
The satellites calculate the surface temperature by measuring the intensity of the infrared light radiated from the layer of snow, and have the advantage that they can "see" the whole continent. However, it was only in operation for 25 years. On the other hand, several Antarctic weather stations has been in effect since 1957, the International Geophysical Year, but virtually all are within a short distance from the coast and thus do not provide any direct information about the conditions inside the continent.
The scientists found that temperature measurements from meteorological stations were very similar to satellite data for the entire period operating both Art. This allowed the use of satellite data as a guide to estimate the temperatures of Antarctica with no meteorological stations.
The "simple explanations do not capture the complexity of change," says Steig. "The thing you hear all the time that Antarctica cooled and is not. If something is true, is that heat but the thing is more complicated. . Antarctica is not warming at the same rate everywhere, and while some areas are cooled for a long time, the data show that the continent global warming. "
One major possible reason why most Antarctic is believed to be due to a cool hole in the earth's protective ozone layer that appears during the spring months in the polar region of the southern hemisphere. The Steig noted that this claim for the cooling due to ozone hole has a strong base.
"In any event, efforts to repair the ozone layer will eventually enter the hole and could disappear in the middle of this century. If this happens, the whole Antarctica is equally with all other parts of the world "
Translated and adapted from:
University of Washington (2009, January 22). Much Of Antarctica Is Warming More Than Previously Thought. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 27, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com / Releases/2009/01/090121144049.htm
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