NASA: Biggest Cap of Antarctic Sea Ice Since 1979

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By  Warner Todd Huston

A new report from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) finds that the Antarctic ice cap has exceeded 20 million square kilometers, a freeze that hasn't been seen since 1979 when the agency began to compile records.

"Sea ice surrounding Antarctica reached a new record high extent this year, covering more of the southern oceans than it has since scientists began a long-term satellite record to map sea ice extent in the late 1970s,"  the NASA website reported on October 7.

NASA went on to say:

Since the late 1970s, the Arctic has lost an average of 20,800 square miles (53,900 square kilometers) of ice a year; the Antarctic has gained an average of 7,300 square miles (18,900 sq km). On Sept. 19 this year, for the first time ever since 1979, Antarctic sea ice extent exceeded 7.72 million square miles (20 million square kilometers), according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The ice extent stayed above this benchmark extent for several days. The average maximum extent between 1981 and 2010 was 7.23 million square miles (18.72 million square kilometers).
The single-day maximum extent this year was reached on Sept. 20, according to NSIDC data, when the sea ice covered 7.78 million square miles (20.14 million square kilometers). This year's five-day average maximum was reached on Sept. 22, when sea ice covered 7.76 million square miles (20.11 million square kilometers), according to NSIDC.

The amount of ice did surprise many, and Claire Parkinson, a senior scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, noted that "not every location on the face of Earth is acting as expected." She went on to say that the readings make scientists ask "OK, this isn’t what we expected, now how can we explain it?"

"There hasn’t been one explanation yet that I’d say has become a consensus, where people say, ‘We’ve nailed it, this is why it’s happening,'" Parkinson added.

Regardless, Parkinson and others at NASA contend that all this is still a result of global warming.

"The planet as a whole is doing what was expected in terms of warming. Sea ice as a whole is decreasing as expected, but just like with global warming, not every location with sea ice will have a downward trend in ice extent," she said. 

Scientists Monitor Huge Iceberg That Broke Off From Antarctica

NBC News.com

Scientists are monitoring an iceberg roughly six times the size of Manhattan -- one of the largest now in existence -- that broke off from an Antarctic glacier and is heading into the open ocean.

NASA glaciologist Kelly Brunt said on Wednesday the iceberg covers about 255 square miles (660 square km) and is up to a third of a mile (500 meters) thick. Known as B31, the iceberg separated from Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier last November, Brunt added.

"It's one that's large enough that it warrants monitoring," Brunt said in a telephone interview, noting that U.S. government organizations including the National Ice Center keep an eye on dozens of icebergs at any given time.

The iceberg's present location is not in an area heavily navigated by ships.

"There's not a lot of shipping traffic down there. We're not particularly concerned about shipping lanes. We know where all the big ones are," she said.

Scientists are especially interested in this iceberg not only because of its size but because it originated in an unexpected location, said Brunt.

"It's like a large sheet cake floating through the Southern Ocean," she added.

The glacial crack that created the iceberg was first detected in 2011, according to Brunt, a scientist with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Morgan State University in Maryland.

Pine Island Glacier has been closely studied over the past two decades because it has been thinning and draining rapidly and may be an important contributor to sea level rise, scientists say.

They say the iceberg has floated across Pine Island Bay, a basin of the Amundsen Sea, and will likely be swept up soon in the swift currents of the Southern Ocean.

Rare Whale Graveyard Discovered In Antarctic

Scientists try to access ancient body of water

GlobalToronto

Scott Reached South Pole 100 Years Ago

Discovery News/ Kieran Mulvaney


The words conveyed an unmistakable pain, the deep hurt and disappointment of having battled for weeks in the most inhospitable place on Earth, only to be beaten to the ultimate goal.
"Great God!" wrote Robert Falcon Scott as he surveyed the area around the South Pole, "this is a terrible place."
Two days earlier, on January 15, 1912, Scott and his four companions - Edward Wilson, Henry 'Birdie' Bowers, Laurence 'Titus' Oates, and Edgar Evans - were within 30 miles of the Pole, and despite the hardships they had endured, and the difficulties they had experienced, in battling south, Scott's journal conveyed a rare moment of qualified optimism: "It is wonderful to think that two long marches would land us at the Pole," he wrote, before adding ominously that, "it ought to be a certain thing now, and the only appalling possibility the sight of the Norwegian flag forestalling ours."  More >>

South Korea icebreaker arrives to rescue Russian fishing boat

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Russian fishing boat stuck near the Antarctic

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on Dec 17, 2011[Al Jazeera's Roza Kazan reports].

A Russian fishing boat is stuck near the Antarctic. Underwater ice tore a hole in it which caused water to rush in. 32 crew members were on board the ship but most of them are now on lifeboats waiting for help.