| dethalternate | Date: Thursday, 11-October-2012, 11:10 PM | Message # 1 |
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| ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2012) — This September, sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean fell to the lowest extent in the satellite record, which began in 1979. Satellite data analyzed by NSIDC scientists showed that the sea ice cover reached its lowest extent on September 16. Sea ice extent averaged for the month of September was also the lowest in the satellite record.
As the Arctic was experiencing a record low minimum extent, the Antarctic sea ice was reaching record high levels, culminating in a Southern Hemisphere winter maximum extent of 19.44 million square kilometers (7.51 million square miles) on September 26. The September 2012 monthly average was also a record high, at 19.39 million square kilometers (7.49 million square miles) slightly higher than the previous record in 2006. Temperatures over Antarctica were near average this austral winter. Scientists largely attribute the increase in Antarctic sea ice extent to stronger circumpolar winds, which blow the sea ice outward, increasing extent.
NSIDC scientist Ted Scambos said, "Antarctica's changes -- in winter, in the sea ice -- are due more to wind than to warmth, because the warming does not take much of the sea ice area above the freezing point during winter. Instead, the winds that blow around the continent, the "westerlies," have gotten stronger in response to a stubbornly cold continent, and the warming ocean and land to the north."
Read more/Full article/source - http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121003103719.htm
Message edited by dethalternate - Thursday, 11-October-2012, 11:11 PM |
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