Somewhat undercovered by media, big changes taking place in Antarctic sea ice.
While global temperatures have been steadily increasing for decades, Antarctic sea ice (floating ice as opposed the massive land based ice sheets) has stayed remarkably stable, or even slightly increasing.
Then, in recent years, the ice area fell off a cliff.
How much is natural cycle, how much climate change, is being teased out. The consequences of a new regime could be profound.
Below, I spoke to Atmospheric Scientist Jennifer Francis about this change a few weeks ago.
One of my brilliant solutions to the walruses losing their vital Arctic sea ice was to set up synthetic, anchored ice floes. Problem solved…except for material to be used, how many square kilometers of surface needs to be provided, how it would be deployed and where we’d get the money to pay for it.
Similarly, my brilliant solution to the Antarctica penguin problem would be to establish stable synthetic ice shelves in the roughest oceans of the world.
*sigh*