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Summer Melt Season Getting Longer On Antarctic Peninsula

Catawba

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Mar. 27, 2013 — "New research from the Antarctic Peninsula shows that the summer melt season has been getting longer over the last 60 years. Increased summer melting has been linked to the rapid break-up of ice shelves in the area and rising sea level.

The Antarctic Peninsula -- a mountainous region extending northwards towards South America -- is warming much faster than the rest of Antarctica. Temperatures have risen by up to 3 oC since the 1950s -- three times more than the global average. This is a result of a strengthening of local westerly winds, causing warmer air from the sea to be pushed up and over the peninsula. In contrast to much of the rest of Antarctica, summer temperatures are high enough for snow to melt."

"Dr Nick Barrand, who carried out the research while working for the British Antarctic Survey, led an analysis of data from 30 weather stations on the peninsula. "We found a significant increase in the length of the melting season at most of the stations with the longest temperature records" he says. "At one station the average length of the melt season almost doubled between 1948 and 2011."

To build up a more complete picture across the whole peninsula, the team (funded by the European Union's ice2sea programme) also analysed satellite data collected by an instrument called a scatterometer. Using microwave reflections from the ice sheet surface, the scatterometer was able to detect the presence of meltwater. The team were able to produce maps of how the melt season varied from 1999 to 2009, and showed that several major ice shelf breakup events coincided with longer than usual melt seasons. This supports the theory that enlargement of cracks by meltwater is the main mechanism for ice shelf weakening and collapse.
The researchers also compared data from both the satellite and weather stations with the output of a state-of-the-art regional climate model.


Dr Barrand, who now works at the University of Birmingham, says, "We found that the model was very good at reproducing the pattern and timing of the melt, and changes in melting between years. This increases confidence in the use of climate models to predict future changes to snow and ice cover in the Antarctic Peninsula."


Trends in Antarctic Peninsula surface melting conditions from observations and regional climate modeling will be officially published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface this week."

Summer melt season getting longer on Antarctic Peninsula
 
The extended melt season is clearly being attributed to the local effects ("strengthening westerly winds").
Indeed, if you look at the map, you realize that Antarctic Peninsula is a long, narrow tentacle of the continent stretching toward Argentina, and hardly can represent the condition of the enormous glacial bulk to the south.
So...why is this especially interesting, if you are not one of the few people living nearby or even fewer ones working on fine-tuning particular climatological models or specializing in glaciology?
 
The extended melt season is clearly being attributed to the local effects ("strengthening westerly winds").
Indeed, if you look at the map, you realize that Antarctic Peninsula is a long, narrow tentacle of the continent stretching toward Argentina, and hardly can represent the condition of the enormous glacial bulk to the south.
So...why is this especially interesting, if you are not one of the few people living nearby or even fewer ones working on fine-tuning particular climatological models or specializing in glaciology?

Indeed . Which again basically boils down to my initial response..... So what ?
 
if you look at the map, you realize that Antarctic Peninsula is a long, narrow tentacle of the continent stretching toward Argentina

And how has that changed in the last 60 years?
 
Indeed . Which again basically boils down to my initial response..... So what ?

This is why this scientific research is important:

"This summer melting may have important effects. Meltwater may enlarge cracks in floating ice shelves which can contribute to their retreat or collapse. As a result, the speed at which glaciers flow towards the sea will be increased. Also, melting and refreezing causes snow layers to become thinner and more dense, affecting the height of the snow surface above sea level. Scientists need to know this so they can interpret satellite data correctly."
 
This is why this scientific research is important:

"This summer melting may have important effects. Meltwater may enlarge cracks in floating ice shelves which can contribute to their retreat or collapse. As a result, the speed at which glaciers flow towards the sea will be increased. Also, melting and refreezing causes snow layers to become thinner and more dense, affecting the height of the snow surface above sea level. Scientists need to know this so they can interpret satellite data correctly."

Or it may not who knows so whats your point ? If you look at the entire Antarctic continent as a whole and not just one cherry picked location you can see that Sea Ice area as has actually been increasing since satellite monitoring of it began 34 years ago.

seaice_anomaly_antarctic.jpg

Obviously because it doesnt fit the AGW agenda we arent being told to worry about this ? :roll:
 
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Or it may not who knows so whats your point ? If you look at the entire Antarctic continent as a whole and not just one cherry picked location you can see that Sea Ice area as has actually been increasing since satellite monitoring of it began 34 years ago.

View attachment 67145299

Obviously because it doesnt fit the AGW agenda we arent being told to worry about this ? :roll:



Sure why bother with scientific research when you have it all figured out! I told you wouldn't be interested in this. It involves scientific research.
 
sure why bother with scientific research when you have it all figured out! I told you wouldn't be interested in this. It involves scientific research.



So whats your point here and why should what is happening on a small area of Antarctica be of any consequence whatsoever ?
 
So whats your point here and why should what is happening on a small area of Antarctica be of any consequence whatsoever ? !

gwcritics.jpg
 
Why not just answer the question. I made it simple enough for you didnt I ? :roll:
 
Why not just answer the question. I made it simple enough for you didnt I ? :roll:


I did answer it. Did I not make it simple enough for you?
 
What sort of answer is an unrelated cartoon supposed to represent ? :doh


It wasn't unrelated, it directly reflects the deniers approach to the scientific research on climate change.
 
It wasn't unrelated, it directly reflects the deniers approach to the scientific research on climate change.

Your response to a direct question about the significance of the research into this anomaly is another of your devastating 'denier denier pants on fire' comebacks, but where did I actually deny anything at all here ?

So you are simply mindlessly preaching again with this thread then arent you ? :roll: Gotcha ! :bolt
 
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And how has that changed in the last 60 years?

It hasn't. Trends observed in a setting so unrepresentative could not be extrapolated globally (or continentally) 60, 30 or 10 years ago, and they still cannot be extrapolated.

(Which is an argument as much "pro-warming" as "anti-warming"; that "westerly wind" business is too local a phenomenon to explain away anything happening elsewhere).
 
Your response to a direct question about the significance of the research into this anomaly is another of your devastating 'denier denier pants on fire' comebacks, but where did I actually deny anything at all here ?

So you are simply mindlessly preaching again with this thread then arent you ? :roll: Gotcha ! :bolt
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I am sharing brand new scientific research for those with an interest in new scientific research, which obviously you are not! Bolt away!
 
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I am sharing brand new scientific research for those with an interest in new scientific research, which obviously you are not! Bolt away!

And why is this research of a small part of Antarctica of significance ....again ? Why start a thread if you have actually no interest whatsoever in debating it ? :roll:
 
It hasn't.

Then why would you think that would have caused the temperature to increase so much in the last 60 years?

Trends observed in a setting so unrepresentative could not be extrapolated globally (or continentally) 60, 30 or 10 years ago, and they still cannot be extrapolated.

(Which is an argument as much "pro-warming" as "anti-warming"; that "westerly wind" business is too local a phenomenon to explain away anything happening elsewhere).


That is what is know as a straw man argument. No where in the article about the research does it state the changes there were to be extrapolated globally.

What it talks about being extrapolated globally is the methodology in measurements to better fine tune climate models.
 
And why is this research of a small part of Antarctica of significance ....again ? Why start a thread if you have actually no interest whatsoever in debating it ? :roll:

I've already shown you why it is significant. If you can't understand it, I can't help you.
 
I've already shown you why it is significant. If you can't understand it, I can't help you.

Nonsense . You've cherry picked a study of an inconsequential part of the world in the hope it will keep the flag flying for your faith. I've shown you that on Antarctica as a whole Sea Ice levels have been increasing since satellite monitoring began in 1979 and indeed broke the all time record area coverage in September 2012. Take it up with NASA if you dont like it.
 
What it talks about being extrapolated globally is the methodology in measurements to better fine tune climate models.

And this is something non-specialists should ponder, once again - why, exactly?
 
And this is something non-specialists should ponder, once again - why, exactly?

To make the models more accurate, what scientists are always striving for.
 
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