|
Rapid temperature increases above the Antarctic
March 31, 200630 year weather balloon record
A new analysis of weather balloon observations from the last 30 years reveals that the Antarctic has the same 'global warming' signature as that seen across the whole Earth, but is three times larger than that observed globally. The results by scientists from British Antarctic Survey are reported this week in Science.
Although the rapid surface warming in the Antarctic Peninsula region has been known for some time, this study has produced the first indications of broad-scale climate change across the whole Antarctic continent.
Lead author Dr John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey says,
"The rapid surface warming of the Antarctic Peninsula and the enhanced global warming signal over the whole continent shows the complexity of climate change. Greenhouses gases could be having a bigger impact in Antarctica than across the rest of the world and we don't understand why. So far we haven't been able to determine the mechanisms behind the warming.
"The warming above the Antarctic could have implications for snowfall across the Antarctic and sea level rise. Current climate model simulations don't reproduce the observed warming, pointing to weaknesses in their ability to represent the Antarctic climate system. Our next step is to try to improve the models. \\\
British Antarctic Survey
Lead author Dr John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey says,
"The rapid surface warming of the Antarctic Peninsula and the enhanced global warming signal over the whole continent shows the complexity of climate change. Greenhouses gases could be having a bigger impact in Antarctica than across the rest of the world and we don't understand why. So far we haven't been able to determine the mechanisms behind the warming.
"The warming above the Antarctic could have implications for snowfall across the Antarctic and sea level rise. Current climate model simulations don't reproduce the observed warming, pointing to weaknesses in their ability to represent the Antarctic climate system. Our next step is to try to improve the models. \\\
British Antarctic Survey
Antarctic Climate News and Current Antarctic Climate Events RSSOcean satellite launch critical to Australian science
A new earth observing satellite being launched in California today will help guide future Australian ocean and climate science.
Ocean warming on the rise
Increased scientific confidence that ocean observations are accurately reflecting rising global temperatures is central to new Australian research published today in the journal, Nature.
Ocean temperatures and sea level increases 50 percent higher than previously estimated
New research suggests that ocean temperature and associated sea level increases between 1961 and 2003 were 50 percent larger than estimated in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
Climate Models Overheat Antarctica, New Study Finds
Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, concludes new research by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Ohio State University.
Climate change and life in the Southern Ocean
A ten-week expedition to the Lazarev Sea and the eastern part of the Weddell Sea opens this year's Antarctic research season of the German research vessel Polarstern.
Call for network to monitor Southern Ocean current
In a commentary published in the journal Science today, Dr John Church of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre and CSIRO, through the Wealth from Oceans Flagship, said a Southern Hemisphere observing network is needed to complement a network of moorings now spanning the North Atlantic Ocean.
Sea level on the rise - in real and virtual worlds
The climate system, and in particular sea level, may be responding more quickly to rising carbon emissions than climate scientists have estimated with climate models.
Volcanic blast likely killed and preserved juvenile fossil plesiosaur found in Antarctica
Amid 70-mile-an-hour winds and freezing Antarctic conditions, an American-Argentine research team has recovered the well-preserved fossil skeleton of a juvenile plesiosaur-a marine reptile that swam the waters of the Southern Ocean roughly 70 million years ago.
New evidence shows Antarctica has warmed in last 150 years
Despite recent indications that Antarctica cooled considerably during the 1990s, new research suggests that the world's iciest continent has been getting gradually warmer for the last 150 years, a trend not identifiable in the short meteorological records and masked at the end of the 20th century by large temperature variations.
Scripps Studies Provide New Details About Antarctic Iceberg Detachment
A multifaceted research effort by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and their colleagues has resulted in several important new findings about Antarctica and the changing dynamics of its ice structure.
More Antarctic Climate News Articles
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |