GLOBAL WARMING IN ANTARCTICA
Cliff Harris is a world-renowned climatologist whose office is here in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. This article appeared in the Coeur d’Alene Press on Monday, April 14, 2008, the first of three articles.
Antarctica is the 'bellwether continent' for the current 'global cooling' climate phase.
More than 13 months ago at our March 2, 2007, International Climate Seminar held at the Coeur d'Alene Resort, I mentioned that the Antarctic icepack had increased in size by a whopping 8 percent since 1998, the peak of the latest cycle of global warming. Weather stations, in many cases, have been totally swallowed up by the advancing ice in Eastern and Southern Antarctica.
As Paul Berenson stated in his recent March 27 article entitled, "Media Hype on the 'Melting' Antarctic Ignores Record Ice Growth," the ice loss of the shattered portion of the Wilkins Ice Sheet in Western Antarctica was just "a mere 0.01 percent of the current Antarctic ice cover."
Paul accurately adds, "the total icepack in Antarctica has grown to all-time record levels since satellite monitoring began in the 1970s. The vast majority of the continent has cooled in the past 50 years."
Here's what other scientists have said about the thickening Antarctic ice sheets:
Former Weather Channel Meteorologist Joe D'Aleo rejected the hype surrounding the recent Wilkins Ice Shelf collapse in Western Antarctica. "The shattered part of the Wilkins ice sheet was 160 square miles in area, which is just 0.01 percent of the total current Antarctic ice cover, like an icicle falling from a snow- and ice-covered roof," D'Aleo wrote on March 25. "We are very likely going to exceed last year's record (for Southern Hemisphere ice extent). Yet the world is left with the false impression Antarctica's ice sheet is also starting to disappear," D'Aleo added.
Climate scientist Ben Herman, past director of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics and former Head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona, stated, "It is interesting that all of the AGW (anthropogenic global warming) stories concerning Antarctica are always about what's happening around the (western) peninsula, which seems to be the only place on Antarctica that has shown warming. How about the net 'no change' or 'cooling' over the rest of the continent, which is probably about 95 percent of the land mass, not to mention the record sea ice coverage recently."
But the news media sadly tossed out objectivity and balance when it came to this new Antarctic story. Media headlines blared: Bye-bye, Antarctica? (Salon Magazine 3-26-08); Massive ice shelf collapsing off Antarctica (C/Net News 3-26-08); Slab of Antarctic ice shelf collapses amid warming (Reuters 3-26-08); Ice shelf 'hangs by a thread' (Sydney Morning Herald 2-26-08).
True to form, Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein could not allow himself to include any scientists or peer-reviewed studies countering alarm over the allegedly "melting" Antarctic. Borenstein instead hyped alarm by writing on March 27, "Scientists said they are not concerned about a rise in sea level from the latest event, but say it's a sign of worsening global warming."
[Note: Borenstein has a long history of incomplete reporting on global warming. See related links section below for examples of the media's shoddy environmental reporting. In addition, ABC World News Sunday anchor Dan Harris this week produced a low-brow smear segment on atmospheric physicist Dr. Fred Singer, a prominent dissenter of manmade climate fears. ABC News violated basic journalistic standards by citing "anonymous" scientists to attack Dr. Singer ]
Below are a few samples of what scientists have said in the past couple of weeks since the Antarctic "melting" stories have hit the media:
- Climate Scientist Dr. Ben Herman, past director of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics and former Head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona, is a member of both the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth's Executive Committee and the Committee on Global Change. Herman commented on March 25:
"That ice [the media is hyping] is just a tiny fraction of the Antarctic ice and probably the increase each winter more than compensates. The ice loss does not show up, at least not yet on the Illinois site, http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere, which still shows increasing sea ice heading into (Southern Hemisphere's) winter. It is interesting that all of the AGW (anthropogenic global warming) stories concerning Antarctica are always about what's happening around the (Western) peninsula, which seems to be the only place on Antarctica that has shown warming. How about the net 'no change' or 'cooling' over the rest of the continent, which is probably about 95 percent of the land mass, not to mention the record sea ice coverage recently," Herman wrote on March 25.
- Meteorologist Joseph D'Aleo served as the first Director of Meteorology at The Weather Channel, was the Chief Meteorologist at Weather Services International Corporation and served as chairman of the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) Committee on Weather Analysis and Forecasting. D'Aleo commented on his Web site Icecap.us on March 25:
"The shattered part of the Wilkins ice sheet was 160 square miles in area, which is just 0.01 percent of the total current Antarctic ice cover (just 0.003 percent of the extent last September), like an icicle falling from a snow- and ice-covered roof. And this winter is coming on quickly. The latest satellite images and reports suggest the ice has already refrozen around the broken pieces. In fact the ice is returning so fast, it is running an amazing 60 percent ahead (4.0 versus 2.5 million square kilometers extent) of last year when it set a new record. The total ice extent is already approaching the second highest level for extent since the measurements began by satellite in 1979 and just a few days into the Southern Hemisphere fall season and 6 months ahead of the peak. We are very likely going to exceed last year's record [for Southern Hemisphere ice extent]. Yet the world is left with the false impression Antarctica's ice sheet is also starting to disappear," D'Aleo wrote on March 25.
I'll have more information on this topic in next week's 'Gems' featuring quotes from several other prominent scientists on the growing Antarctic icepack.
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