Why is Antarctic sea ice expanding?

By Laura Naranjo (NSIDC), first published January 31, 2014. In the following  an edited version, reposted here with permission. Antarctic sea ice is ruled by very different systems than Arctic sea ice. The reasons behind this increase are complex, and several recent studies show that scientists are still trying to understand them. Ice and wind Atmospheric…

With further Arctic Amplification, How fast will Greenhouse Gas emissions accelerate in the Arctic Circle?

Introduction to Methane Hydrate “Methane Hydrates and Contemporary Climate Change” (2011) IDENTIFICATION This post “A Mechanism for Shallow Methane Hydrate Dissociation”, explores possible mechanism which could release vast quantities of shallow Methane Hydrate into the ocean and atmosphere.       CH4 Release The following studies explore the release of CH4 emissions in the Arctic region. OBSERVATION…

Arctic Death Spiral 1979-2013 ( Sea Ice Decline / Deglaciation)

Monthly averages from January 1979 – 2014 (Jan). Data source via the Polar Science Center (University of Washington) URL.  Data visualisation by Andy Lee Robinson.   Arctic Death Spiral by Andy Lee Robinson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on a work at http://haveland.com/share/arctic-death-spiral.png. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may…

Why is Antarctic sea ice growing?

Published on Nov 8, 2012: Suggestions that modest increases in sea ice around Antarctica offset significant losses in Arctic sea ice are based on a bogus “apples and oranges” comparison. Through interviews with a range of respected experts, Peter Sinclair’s newest Yale Forum video explains why such suggestions do not stand up to scientific scrutiny. Related…

Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Volumes 1979-2013

Published on YouTube Nov 21, 2013: This is an animated visualization of the startling decline of Arctic Sea Ice, showing the minimum volume reached every September since 1979, set on a map of New York with a 10km grid to give an idea of scale. It is clear that the trend of Arctic sea ice…

Estimating northern polar CH4 flux

A compilation of related science with some commentary. Microbes in thawing permafrost: the unknown variable in the climate change equation David E Graham, Matthew D Wallenstein, Tatiana A Vishnivetskaya, Mark P Waldrop,Tommy J Phelps, Susan M Pfiffner, Tullis C Onstott, Lyle G Whyte, Elizaveta M Rivkina,David A Gilichinsky, Dwayne A Elias, Rachel Mackelprang, Nathan C…