Atmosphere Journal Entry
New Evidence of Antarctic Warming (March 16, 2009)
Antarctica's temperature rise is greater on the western side, but the eastern side is getting warmer too. Areas in darker red had the greatest increase. NASA/GSFC.
Evidence has been piling up in recent years that the western side of Antarctica is getting warmer. The situation on the continent's larger eastern side has been somewhat fuzzier. Some researchers even claimed East Antarctica cooled a bit in recent decades. Now, new research points to warming temperatures on both sides of Antarctica.
Overall, the temperature on Antarctica rose nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.5 degrees Celsius) over the past fifty years. Although the rise was most dramatic on West Antarctica, it was also observed on East Antarctica. The research combined 25 year of satellite data with weather station data going back to 1957.
The Transantarctic Mountains divide East and West Antarctica. The western side is much warmer, and has warmed twice as fast as the eastern side. Warming is most extreme on the Antarctic Peninsula, which juts into the ocean below the southern tip of South America. Ten massive ice sheets have collapsed on the peninsula since the 1990s.
Although temperatures on East Antarctica are rising modestly now, they actually did cool from the late 1970s through the 1990s. Scientists theorize this was due to the growing ozone hole over Antarctica.
The study raises fears about global sea level rise. If all of West Antarctica were to melt away, sea level would rise by 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters). This could happen with a temperature jump of another 5.4 degrees F (3 degrees C). This would threaten coastal cities around the planet. If all of Antarctica melted, sea level would climb an unimaginable 190 feet (57 m).
