A ‘triple whammy’ of chaos has triggered a downward spiral in Antarctica, scientists discover
For decades, it seemed Antarctica might be insulated from the kind of rapid ice melting unfolding in the Arctic. But in 2015, that changed when the sea ice fringing this vast, icy continent stopped expanding and began to decline dramatically. Now, scientists say they have figured out why this happened — and their findings spell deep trouble for a region whose fate affects us all.
Antarctic sea ice has been on a steep downward trend for nearly a decade. It reached a record low in 2022 and again in 2023, when it dropped to just 691,000 square miles, equivalent to an area of missing ice larger than Greenland compared to average levels. This year saw a higher amount of sea ice at the height of the Southern Hemispher summer, but it was still at its 16th lowest level in nearly five decades of record keeping.
Scientists have been working for years to understand what is driving the precipitous decline in sea ice and whether it is a sign Antarctica is entering a new state.
The new research identifies a series of different processes — driven by intensifying winds and warming water — which flipped the ocean surrounding Antarctica “out of balance.” It amounts to a “triple whammy of climate chaos,” the report authors wrote in a press release accompanying the paper, which was published in the journal Science Advances on Friday.
The chain of events began decades ago, when westerly winds around Antarctica started to get stronger, said Aditya Narayanan, a study author and research fellow in physical oceanography at the University of Southampton in the UK.
https://www.yahoo.com/news...
For decades, it seemed Antarctica might be insulated from the kind of rapid ice melting unfolding in the Arctic. But in 2015, that changed when the sea ice fringing this vast, icy continent stopped expanding and began to decline dramatically. Now, scientists say they have figured out why this happened — and their findings spell deep trouble for a region whose fate affects us all.
Antarctic sea ice has been on a steep downward trend for nearly a decade. It reached a record low in 2022 and again in 2023, when it dropped to just 691,000 square miles, equivalent to an area of missing ice larger than Greenland compared to average levels. This year saw a higher amount of sea ice at the height of the Southern Hemispher summer, but it was still at its 16th lowest level in nearly five decades of record keeping.
Scientists have been working for years to understand what is driving the precipitous decline in sea ice and whether it is a sign Antarctica is entering a new state.
The new research identifies a series of different processes — driven by intensifying winds and warming water — which flipped the ocean surrounding Antarctica “out of balance.” It amounts to a “triple whammy of climate chaos,” the report authors wrote in a press release accompanying the paper, which was published in the journal Science Advances on Friday.
The chain of events began decades ago, when westerly winds around Antarctica started to get stronger, said Aditya Narayanan, a study author and research fellow in physical oceanography at the University of Southampton in the UK.
https://www.yahoo.com/news...
27 days ago
