Climate change is expanding Antarctica's sea ice, according to a scientific study in the journal Nature Geoscience. The paradoxical phenomenon is thought to be caused by relatively cold plumes of fresh water derived from melting beneath the Antarctic ice shelves.
This melt water has a relatively low density, so it accumulates in the top layer of the ocean. The cool surface waters then re-freeze more easily during Autumn and Winter.
This explains the observed peak in sea ice during these seasons, a team from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) in De Bilt says in its peer-reviewed paper.
Climate scientists have been intrigued by observations that Antarctic sea ice shows a small but statistically significant expansion of about 1.9% per decade since 1985, while sea ice in the Arctic has been shrinking over past decades.
The US Senate rejected an effort on Wednesday to halt a contentious US Fish and Wildlife...
Melissa intensified into a hurricane on Saturday, Oct. 25, as it continued its slow slog across...
As Hurricane Melissa crept closer to Jamaica on Monday, Oct. 27, the island nation braced for...
The Trump administration has approved more oil and gas drilling across Alaska’s Arctic national wildlife refuge...
