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Where are the headlines? Where are the press releases? Where is all the attention? What, it doesn't fit the narrative so let's ignore the data?
The ice melt across during the Antarctic summer (October-January) of 2008-2009 was the lowest ever recorded in the satellite history.
Such was the finding reported last week by Marco Tedesco and Andrew Monaghan in the journal Geophysical Research Letters:
Quote:
A 30-year minimum Antarctic snowmelt record occurred during austral summer 2008–2009 according to spaceborne microwave observations for 1980–2009. Strong positive phases of both the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) were recorded during the months leading up to and including the 2008–2009 melt season.
Source: Tedesco M., and A. J. Monaghan, 2009. An updated Antarctic melt record through 2009 and its linkages to high-latitude and tropical climate variability. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L18502, doi:10.1029/2009GL039186.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but the concern is not about snow melt in Antartica as much as it is about ICE melting.
About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages at least 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) in thickness.
The press probably didn't feel that two scientists who aren't challenging climate change, but only commenting that the snow melt will be faster when El Nino and SAM subside, merited much coverage.
Geophysical Research Letters, 36 (2009) L18502; doi: 10.1029/2009GL039186.
An updated Antarctic melt record through 2009 and its linkages to high-latitude and tropical climate variability
An updated Antarctic melt record through 2009 and its linkages to high-latitude and tropical climate variability
Marco Tedesco (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, City College of New York, New York, NY, U.S.A.) and Andrew J. Monaghan (National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, U.S.A.)
Received 13 May 2009; accepted 12 August 2009; published 24 September 2009.
Abstract
A 30-year minimum Antarctic snowmelt record occurred during austral summer 2008–2009 according to spaceborne microwave observations for 1980–2009. Strong positive phases of both the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) were recorded during the months leading up to and including the 2008–2009 melt season. The 30-year record confirms that significant negative correlations exist at regional and continental scales between austral summer melting and both the ENSO and SAM indices for October–January. In particular, the strongest negative melting anomalies (such as those in 2008 and 2009) are related to amplified large-scale atmospheric forcing when both the SAM and ENSO are in positive phases. Our results suggest that enhanced snowmelt is likely to occur if recent positive summer SAM trends subside in conjunction with the projected recovery of stratospheric ozone levels, with subsequent impacts on ice sheet mass balance and sea level trends.
Tedesco, M., & A. J. Monaghan (2009), An updated Antarctic melt record through 2009 and its linkages to high-latitude and tropical climate variability, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L18502; doi: 10.1029/2009GL039186.
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