Western Antarctic Warming Two Times Faster Than Initially Estimated

Even as temperatures closer to the North Pole appear to be getting colder, a new study has found that the western region of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is warming twice as faster as initially thought.

The temperature record from Byrd Station, an unmanned scientific outpost in the center of the ice sheet, demonstrates a marked increase of 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit (2.4 degrees Celsius) in average annual temperature since 1958. That is three times faster than the average temperature rise around the globe.

Health Effects of Global Warming
Greenhouse effect causes excessive heat to build up in the earth’s atmosphere causing global warming and affects the environment and health.

This temperature increase is nearly double what previous research has suggested, and reveals-for the first time-warming trends during the summer months of the Southern Hemisphere (December through February), said David Bromwich, professor of geography at Ohio State University and senior research scientist at the Byrd Polar Research Center.

"Our record suggests that continued summer warming in West Antarctica could upset the surface mass balance of the ice sheet, so that the region could make an even bigger contribution to sea-level rise than it already does," said Bromwich.

"Even without generating significant mass loss directly, surface melting on the WAIS could contribute to sea level indirectly, by weakening the West Antarctic ice shelves that restrain the region's natural ice flow into the ocean."

Air Conditioner Health Hazards
This section gives a brief introduction about what air conditioner health hazard means and what kind of people get affected by it, and what causes them.

Andrew Monaghan, study co-author and scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), said that these findings place West Antarctica among the fastest-warming regions on Earth.

"We've already seen enhanced surface melting contribute to the breakup of the Antarctic's Larsen B Ice Shelf, where glaciers at the edge discharged massive sections of ice into the ocean that contributed to sea level rise," Monaghan said.

Alaska Continues to Grow Colder Despite Global Warming
Even as temperatures across the world rise due to the effects of global warming, a new study reveals that Alaska is actually growing colder.

"The stakes would be much higher if a similar event occurred to an ice shelf restraining one of the enormous WAIS glaciers."

The study was recently published online in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Source-ANI