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Home » 2009 » #781 » International News » Antarctic warming rapidly say scientists

Simon Butler

Until now, the evidence for the warming of Antarctica had been inconclusive. Climate sceptics have argued that the frozen continent is actually cooling down.

But new data from satellites and weather stations published in the science journal Nature on January 22 reveals that the Antarctic has warmed by around 0.6°C on average over the last half century.

Overall, Antarctica is warming at the same pace as the rest of the world. But the authors also point out that their findings do not necessarily contradict earlier studies indicating that the temperature of East Antarctica has cooled slightly.

However, the West Antarctic appears to be warming swiftly. The evidence strongly suggests that the huge West Antarctica ice shelf is unstable and under threat. This mirrors knowledge that the important Greenland ice sheet is also shrinking due to climate change.

If Antarctica continues warm at the same rate the ecological impact could be disastrous.

Professor Barry Brook from the University of Adelaide told the January 23 British Guardian that “even losing a fraction of both [ice sheets] would cause a few metres of sea level rise this century, with disastrous consequences”.

British Antarctic Survey scientist, Gareth Marshall, commented on the findings to the BBC on January 21: “This study shows that, similar to the other six continents, Antarctica has undergone a significant warming over the past 50 years.

“The magnitude of this warming is similar to the rest of the southern hemisphere, where we believe it is likely that human activity has played some role in the temperature increase, and therefore it is also likely that this is the case regarding an Antarctic warming.”

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