Antarctic ice grows as climate warms

• Autores: Fred Pearce
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2911, 2013, pág. 14
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • While sea ice in the Arctic is vanishing fast, the extent of Antarctic ice has increased. The link between global warming and melting in the Arctic is clear cut, but the situation is more complex in the south. There, ocean water below a depth of 100 meters has been getting warmer, inline with rising ocean temperatures worldwide, but surface waters and the air above have become cooler. The reason, say Richard Bintanja and colleagues at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, is that the deep warm water is melting the shelves of floating ice that extend from the continent. This is setting off flotillas of icebergs and creating a layer of cool, fresh water at the ocean's surface.