So is this loss after the 35 year high? http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/09/23/antarctic-sea-ice-hit-35-year-record-high-saturday/ How about sea level rise? It been rising since the last ice age and accelerating before the age of AGW but now that acceleration is slowing down... http://judithcurry.com/2014/04/24/slowing-sea-level-rise/ Nothing to see here folks.
JeffC
hmmm ... the picture seems to show that 99% of the Antarctic is not losing ice at all ... the odd thing is Antarctic sea ice has grown to record levels this year ... this picture is of the land ice ... which is as much as 15,000 feet thick in places and averages over 6,000 feet thick ... so how long would it take to melt (if it is indeed melting) to disappear at 2 meters per year across the entire continent ? hmmm ... 1,000 years ... I guess not much math being taught in law school and ancient history these days ... I am curious how global warming is melting this ice ... the average temperature of the Antarctic is - 50 F ... wouldn't it need to warm up about 80 degrees before it could melt ice ? also Antarctic temperatures have been going down for several years so why is the ice melting ? hmm, I wonder if there might be some volcanic activity, you know, under the ice ...
Lumpy
Back in the 1970,s the climate scientist idiots predicted an coming ice age. Remember this?..... http://www.populartechnology.net/2013/02/the-1970s-global-cooling-alarmism.html www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_861us8D9M
ivan4
JeffC, you are not supposed to say sensible things like that, the global warming priesthood will get all upset. The other thing that is not talked about very much is the Antarctic Vortex that helps to keep the cold in.
Daishi
@JeffC I found some data on your claim here: http://www.skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice-basic.htm It looks like the Antarctic is gain sea ice... but losing land ice. Based on the that link land ice is being lost at a rate faster than sea ice mass is being gained. It's also important to note that land ice doesn't contribute to sea level rise to the extent that sea level ice does. That website estimates an overall sea level rise of 0.19 mm/yr. This new article (which is newer data) estimates sea level rise from the ice at 0.45 mm/year. Also a quick check of Wikipedia on Climate_of_Antarctica: "Along the Antarctic Peninsula, temperatures as high as 15°C (59°F) have been recorded" so temps do reach above freezing. I did see once source that confirmed that Antarctic temps were dropping recently. The famous hole in the ozone layer was above the Antarctic and is known to be shrinking now. I can't tell you why land ice continues to be melting despite a dropping average temperatures. Sea ice could be attributed to something more dynamic like change in ocean currents.
joeblake
JeffC, "so how long would it take to melt" There's no necessity for the ice to "melt" in order to change the sea level. In recent times there have been reports of large areas of ice calving from glaciers and floating in the ocean. Once the ice is floating freely it displaces its maximum amount of water. In an experiment you CAN do at home, fill a glass with water until it overflows. Place an ice cube in the water, which will then further flow over the edge of the glass. But as the ice melts, there is no further overflow, showing that the ice displaces its mass in water, not volume, which is why there is ice above the water surface. So although the Antarctic ice may be growing in thickness, it can still be responsible for raising the sea level, as a small amount of melt water will flow under the glaciers and lubricate the system, causing the ice to flow more quickly and calve icebergs. (This phenomenon was observed during the Icelandic volcanic eruption several years ago.)
Justin Doyle
JeffC, Strangely enough climate scientists have thought of that and already given explanations:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice.htm Sea Ice may be increasing, but Land Ice is disappearing at an alarming rate. If I drop an ice cream on the pavement it spreads out before melting completely, having a larger surface area doesn't mean the ice cream is AOK. Also, the entirety of Antarctica doesn't have to melt before sea levels start to rise. Finally the ice is melting because the oceans are warming.
"The land ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is not due to surface melting, as the summer temperatures in Antarctica are generally always below freezing, and measured changes in precipitation cannot explain it either. Instead, the melting is occurring due to warm ocean water melting the land ice around its edges, resulting in a spreading of this ice loss inland:" Which would explain the image above showing melting around the edges. Finally finally, please stop posting on this, you're not helping anyone.
Justin Doyle
For goodness sakes Lumpy, I don't even have to open another site to debunk that one: http://www.skepticalscience.com/ice-age-predictions-in-1970s.htm Do us a favour next time and check that site before you post anything that's already been thoroughly debunked.
christopher
The entire topic is moot. It's a plain and simple impossibility to convince 7.2++ billion people to radically change their lifestyle - for developed peoples to stop making stuff, for developing peoples to stop cooking, and for all of us to stop reproducing. Quibble, if you will, over percentages, but we're not even the sole warming cause anyhow. We think we can change the world. We live in all manner of dumb places. Only our arrogance exceeds our stupidity. What is even the point of measuring ice, when we're powerless to change anything? Scratch-that - my hat goes off to the geeks who scammed an awesome expedition to cool places at taxpayer expense :-)
b@man
This is just global warming propaganda. Antarctica is Cooling/Gaining Ice.
Quit listening to these lying fools.