From the “I told you Angry Penguins were the new icon” department
The world’s polar regions are warming up faster than the global average, but the western edge of the Antarctic Peninsula is especially steamy. Over the past 50 years, winter temperatures have shot up by an almost unbelievable 6°C—more than five times the global average, according to a paper just published in Science.
The new study, part of a special report on oceans and climate, focuses on the Antarctic Peninsula not only because it represents an extreme, but because it gives scientists a chance to look at a marine ecosystem under rapid climate change (the other polar hotspots, in Siberia and western North America, are well inland).
Rapidly rising temperatures—mostly driven by warmer ocean currents–have transformed the West Antarctic Peninsula’s landscape. The massive ice shelves that sit just offshore at the peninsula’s southern end have begun collapsing en masse . Overall, say the authors, 87% of the region’s glaciers are in retreat, the ice season has shortened by 90 days and, they write ominously, “These changes are accelerating.”
That being the case, it’s not surprising that the creatures who live here are under enormous stress. Adélie penguin populations, which need ice and cold weather to survive, have plummeted by 90% in the northern part of the peninsula over the past three decades, says lead author Oscar Schofield, a marine scientist at Rutgers University, while chinstrap penguins, which prefer more temperate climates, have increased. “The penguin populations near Palmer Station [the largest U.S. base in that part of the continent] have flipflopped,” says Schofield. “The area will probably be completely devoid of Adélies in five or ten years.”
Right, and the growth of sea ice around the continent is also due to warming in the winter.
Amazing.
The penguins left because it was way too hot! Went from -65°C to -60°C. What an intolerable hot spell!
Oh dear…
Now get this .Over the past 50 years the temperature has shot up by almost 6 degrees.How is this possible you may ask.There are no people,no homes ,no roads no car trucks or the awful suv’s that ruin our planet.But here on earth the temperature has hardly changed at all.Yet all we hear is were killing the enviroment it all our fault everything that happens that is bad is due to us.The only conclusion can be that underwater volcanos are causing any temperature change in the Antarctica.
Is it time to panic?
What’s really happening.
And it should be pointed out how small the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is. The WAIS is in red, and it’s warming not because of the climate, but because it is over a geologic hot spot.
Other than that, fine article.☺
I see the Antarctic sea ice has gone just outside the 2 stnd deviations. http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/S_stddev_timeseries.png
And, it looks to be greater than average most places except the peninsula http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/S_daily_extent_hires.png
Mother nature is brutal, apparently.
“Adélie penguin populations, which need ice and cold weather to survive, have plummeted by 90% in the northern part of the peninsula over the past three decades, says lead author Oscar Schofield, a marine scientist at Rutgers University, while chinstrap penguins, which prefer more temperate climates, have increased. ‘The penguin populations near Palmer Station [the largest U.S. base in that part of the continent] have flipflopped,’ says Schofield. ”
This is dripping with irony. Oscillations anyone? Salmon records (which also demonstrated flipflopping) recorded by fisherman from Alaska to the tip of California revealed a new understanding of oceanic system. What was discovered was the PDO.
I imagine this comes from only a single station. Anyone know which one?
Does it mean real estate in antarctica are going to skyrocket?
“I see the Antarctic sea ice has gone just outside the 2 stnd deviations. ”
And that means it’ll drag the average up and we can all be alarmed about ever smaller drops when the occur in the future. 🙂
It’s worse than we thought. Send more money, we need to keep a ship on station 24-7.
Not sure how to interpret this graph: http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/S_timeseries.png which shows at least sea ice well above the 1979 average and this one: http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seaice.recent.antarctic.png showing a positive anomaly of 1.125 million sq. km.
Maybe global warming is causing an increase in the sea ice but I cannot understand why like Hansen, Mann et. all. they are focusing on “Rapidly rising temperatures—mostly driven by warmer ocean currents–have transformed the West Antarctic Peninsula’s landscape.”
Yes, the West Antarctic Peninsula. I would have thought that warmer ocean currents would have diminished sea ice rather increasing same as the charts quoted above would suggest. As a layman I get more and more confused. I have read somewhere else that the increased Antarctic sea ice is caused by cold currents and wind and now they claim it is the opposite causing more sea ice. Help.
Smokey says:
June 18, 2010 at 10:48 am
The WAIS is… warming not because of the climate, but because it is over a geologic hot spot.
Uh, no…
I can see the penguins from “Madagascar” (the movie) coming down the power plant access road now. They’re armed and dangerous! Do you think the greens are going to blame coal plants for the Antarctic peninsula warming? Just how many coal plants are there in the southern hemisphere?
I’ve not seen it brought up much, but just how detrimental an effect do icebreakers have on changing the albedo in the arctic and antarctic waters when they are blowing paths in the solid ice cover? Maybe we should start blaming icebreaker research vessels on endangering narwals and beluga’s by stranding them too far from open waters as they follow the openings deep beyond the ice edge.
In other penguin related news….penguins are freezing to death in Namibia.
Steve,
read
http://antartica.cptec.inpe.br/ in NEWS
The last three years has been cold at Station Comandante Ferraz Antarctic peninsula.
Hey Jakers,
Care to present your evidence that the WAIS is not currently over a geologic hotspot? I know you are a major expert on the subject of the Antarctic and Geological Hotspots, but I personally need a bit more than just “Uhhhh, no” to go on before I believe you. Sorry.
jakers says:
June 18, 2010 at 10:59 am
Smokey says:
June 18, 2010 at 10:48 am
The WAIS is… warming not because of the climate, but because it is over a geologic hot spot.
Uh, no…
———–Reply
So you’re saying this global warming thing isn’t… um…. global?
…..Over the past 14 years the annual average air temperatures recorded at Station
Comm Ferraz Brazilian Antarctic showed a declining trend, about -0.6 º C / decade….
“Adélie penguin populations, which need ice and cold weather to survive…”
And all the krill they eat helps too.
Funny, but other populations of superior mammals will emigrate from their usual places of living if mad green policies are applied.
Ok, Jakers (and everyone else), now that I am ready to take at least a 10-second break from being flippant, you might want to read this, by the way:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229183818.htm
Oh, maybe this one too:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080120160720.htm
Yeah, definitely no geological hotspot around there…
Penguins are passe. Clams are the new penguins.