Space Travel News  
ICE WORLD
Is The Ice At The South Pole Melting

It has long been known that the Pacific El Nino climate phenomenon and the snowfall in Antarctica are linked.
by Staff Writers
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Nov 02, 2010
The change in the ice mass covering Antarctica is a critical factor in global climate events. Scientists at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences have now found that the year by year mass variations in the western Antarctic are mainly attributable to fluctuations in precipitation, which are controlled significantly by the climate phenomenon El Nino.

They examined the GFZ data of the German-American satellite mission GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment). The investigation showed significant regional differences in the western coastal area of the South Pole area.

Two areas in Antarctica are of particular interest because of their potential sensitivity to global climate change: the Antarctic Peninsula, which is currently experiencing a warming exceeding the global mean and the disappearance of large ice shelf areas, and the Amundsen Sector of West Antarctica, where currently the largest flow rates and mass loss of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is occurring.

For some glaciers the ice thickness is decreasing rapidly, and glaciers and ice streams are notably retreating back into the interior. With 0.3 millimeters per year, both regions are currently contributing considerably to the global sea level change of about three millimeters per year.

In the study, the mass balance of both regions is reevaluated from gravity data of the satellite mission GRACE. As a result, the estimates were lower than those of conventional mass balance methods.

"With the GRACE time series, it was for the first time possible to observe how the large-scale ice mass varies in the two areas due to fluctuations in rainfall from year to year," said the GFZ scientists Ingo Sasgen.

It has long been known that the Pacific El Nino climate phenomenon and the snowfall in Antarctica are linked. The complementary piece to the warm phase El Nino, the cold phase known as La Nina, also affects the Antarctic climate: "The cooler La Nina years lead to a strong low pressure area over the Amundsen Sea, which favors heavy rainfall along the Antarctic Peninsula - the ice mass is increasing there.

In contrast, the Amundsen area is dominated by dry air from the interior during this time. El Nino years with their warm phase lead to precisely the opposite pattern: reduced rainfall and mass loss in the Antarctic Peninsula, and an increase in the Amundsen Sectorfield, respectively" explains Professor Maik Thomas, head of the section "Earth System Modelling" at the German Research Centre for Geosciences (Helmholtz Association).

The recording of the entire ice mass of the South Pole and its variations is a central task in climate research and still raises many unanswered questions. In principle, the study could show that the continuous gravity data of the GRACE satellite mission contain another important medium-term climate signal.

Sasgen, I. Dobson, H., Martinec, Z. and Thomas, M., "Satellite Gravimetry Observation of Antarctic Snow Accumulation Related to ENSO," Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.09 .015.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Beyond the Ice Age



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


ICE WORLD
India makes first expedition to South Pole
New Delhi (AFP) Oct 30, 2010
India will kick off its first scientific expedition to the South Pole on Monday to analyse environmental changes in the frozen continent over the past 1,000 years, the mission leader said Saturday. Rasik Ravindra, head of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, is to lead a team of seven Indian scientists on the 40-day expedition from an Indian research base in the Antarctic to ... read more







ICE WORLD
Ariane 5 Lofts Dual Birds

Payload Preparations Underway For Fifth Ariane 5 2010 Mission

Sea Launch Company Emerges From Chapter 11

Ariane 5 Rolls Out For Dual Bird Launch

ICE WORLD
Ancient Mars Was Wet, Cozy And Life Friendly

NASA Trapped Mars Rover Finds Evidence of Subsurface Water

Study Links Fresh Mars Gullies To Carbon Dioxide

2013 Earliest Launch Date For China Mars Mission

ICE WORLD
Dead Spacecraft Walking

Surviving Lunar Dangers

NASA Awards Contract To Team FREDNET Google Lunar X PRIZE Contender

Collision Spills New Moon Secrets

ICE WORLD
Kuiper Belt Of Many Colors

Reaching The Mid-Mission Milestone On The Way To Pluto

New Horizons Student Dust Counter Instrument Breaks Distance Record

Nitrogen Methane Dominate Icy Surface Of Eris

ICE WORLD
Solar Systems Like Ours May Be Common

Astronomer Greg Laughlin To Talk About Earth-Like Planets

NASA Survey Suggests Earth-Sized Planets are Common

Planets Discovered Around Elderly Binary Star

ICE WORLD
Initial 30-Day Findings From DM-2 Rocket Engine Program

Commercial spacecraft launch test delayed

DLR Launches 'STERN' Rocket Programme For Students

U.K. predicts 'spaceplane' in 10 years

ICE WORLD
China says manned space station possible around 2020

China Kicks Off Manned Space Station Program

NASA chief says pleased with 'comprehensive' China visit

The International Future In Space

ICE WORLD
Space Radar Provides A Taste Of Comet Hartley 2

NASA Spacecraft Preps For Comet Flyby

Contract Signing Gives Galileo System Its Operators

Countdown To Comet Flyby Down To Nine Days


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement