Antarctic sea ice trends at record highs. Fears for shrinking southern ocean, right?

JoNova ^ | September 19th, 2012 | Joanne

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

While stories of the Arctic record fall in sea-ice have been all over the news, all over the world, it’s almost as if the Southern Hemisphere didn’t exist. Right now, this week apparently, the sea ice is at or near record highs (bearing in mind that we’re still only talking 30 years of satellite records, but then, these are the same satellites lapping over the arctic, and if the records are longer there, I expect it’s only by an hour and a half).

…

h/t Steve Goddard who asks when the National Snow & Ice Data Centre ( NSIDC) will send out the press releases. They appear to be more concerned about the effects of the Antarctic “thinning” trend on penguins this week. Sunshine hours has graphed it in detail.

Cryosphere compares the relentless fall and rise of Antarctic ice here. Millions of square kilometers in staggering, dramatic melts every spring manage to return in staggering dramatic ice formations each and every year.

(Click to enlarge)

I expect that our non-hemispherist unbiased and diligent newspapers will be running with matching ones very soon. Based on news stories like this:

• Arctic ice may completely collapse within 4 years: scientist

• ‘Staggering’ Arctic ice loss smashes melt records

• Record Loss Of Arctic Ice May Trigger Extreme Weather

• Vanishing Arctic Ice Is the Planet’s White Flag of Surrender

I can see ones like this:

• Shock Antarctic sea ice growth shrinks Southern Ocean by 1 m Sq kilometers

• Staggering explosion of sea ice scares penguin

• The next ice-age approaches? Ominous warnings from Antarctica

• Sea ice strangles ice-bound continent

• Record Antarctic Sea Ice threatens whales: Mammals need to breathe says scientist.

• Antarctic current survives 25m years of climate change. Wiped out by man in 20 years.

• Antarctic ice will reach Argentina. Round-the-world Yacht Race “abandoned by 2050″

Antarctic sea ice is yet another model failure…

I should add in seriousness, that The Hockey Schtick also discusses Turner et al 2012, which compares model predictions of Antarctic Sea Ice with observations and finds: “In contrast to the satellite data, which exhibits a slight increase in SIE (sea-ice-extent), the mean SIE of the models over 1979 – 2005 shows a decrease in each month, ” and also “The negative SIE trends in most of the model runs over 1979 – 2005 are a continuation of an earlier decline, suggesting that the processes responsible for the observed increase over the last 30 years are not being simulated correctly.”

Do send those media links in as you find them!

REFERENCES

John Turner, Tom Bracegirdle, Tony Phillips, Gareth J. Marshall, and J. Scott Hosking (2012) An Initial Assessment of Antarctic Sea Ice Extent in the CMIP5 Models Journal of Climate; e-View doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00068.1

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[rarestia]

There have been a few articles as of late explaining that lower sea ice in the northern hemisphere coupled with excessive sea ice in the southern often presages extreme cold weather conditions across the planet.

I’m looking forward to hearing the enviro-whacko’s explanations on this.

[Signalman]

There appears to be a bi-polar (no pun intended) relationship between Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. In 2007, when Arctic sea ice was at a previous record low, Antarctic sea ice was at a previous record high.

[Baseballguy]

I wonder if people know that as ice melts the volume of the container is less.

I always wondered why the maps that show global warming and ice caps melting loosing land mass.

[hosepipe]

WHAT IF, there was too much ice in the arctic and the planet is relieving itself of some of it.. ?

There could also be way too many Polar Bears as well..
I have a hunch that the planet has “CYCLES”.. for ice, rain, wind, sea currents and sunshine.. even for nasty stuff in the atmosphere.. Like Volcano stuff.. and escaped natural gas(methane).. and carbon whatever..

And that what “MEN” do is like a PoPCorn FArt..
But thats just me.. (belch)...

[SampleMan]

The news reporting is such today that one must be an expert cynic.

If they just pushed a story on receding arctic ice, as proof of global warming, why was nothing said of antarctic ice? After all, if both were receding, they would have mentioned it. It must not be mentioned for a reason, and that reason would be that is disproves the reporters thesis.

This is how I read all news now, not for what is said, but for what isn't.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

So only the northern hemisphere is warming?

This article has 245 comments at JoNova Website.

[Marine_Uncle]

"So only the northern hemisphere is warming?"
But a few months ago we where reading reports that the Arctic Ocean was socked in by growing ice fields. We read about the Russian ship that was locked in and waiting for air rescue to deliver supplies if required.

[Dixie Yooper]

It must not be mentioned for a reason, and that reason would be that is disproves the reporters thesis.

Have you ever noticed that no ever talks about how for the last 25 years, China has been on a dam building binge? The volume of fresh water being held by these dams is more than the fresh water held by 3 of our Great Lakes...Huron, Erie and Ontario. If the Earth's atmosphere is only capable of recirculating a finite amount of precipitation, where did all this water come from? What's all this new water surface doing to the Earth's weather patterns? Do you really think climate change is due to carbon emissions?