Antarctic sea ice reaches record levels and why that's bad

Research ships and other vessels traveling through Antarctic waters will have to be very careful this year because Antarctic ice has expanded rapidly, increasing the hazard to ships.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - An incredible quantity of sea ice has formed around Antarctica, doubling the surface area of the continent. The added ice means that explorers will need to navigate carefully and icebergs will stray farther north impacting shipping routes in the southern expanses.

The reason for the growing sea ice is not a sudden episode of cooling, but rather a result of global warming. Scientists say that the continent is losing land-ice rapidly which is contributing to a rise in the average global sea level. As land ice is lost, it expands over the ocean areas. A favorite analogy is the melting of an ice cream cone dropped on the sidewalk. As the ice cream melts and thins, the mess expands and grows outwards.

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Not all of the ice on the ocean is melted off from the continent however. Ice is also made in polynya, which are features where ocean currents and wind patterns come together to create more sea ice. Scientists refer to polynya as "sea ice factories."

The winds which fuel these sea ice factories are strengthened by warming weather patterns in Antarctica. In other words, global warming is causing ice to form around Antarctica.

This is not a fluke occurrence anymore. This is now the third year in a row that Antarctic sea ice has reached these levels. In fact, Antarctic sea ice has expanded by about 1.5 percent every year since 1979. 

Climate systems are extraordinarily complex. While the global average temperature may increase, weather remains a local phenomenon. The American West continues to swelter under a prolonged drought while the Eastern U.S. is likely to see a very cold winter just as it did last year. These observations are consistent with a pattern of global climate change brought about by warming.

Although average temperatures appear to have plateaued, scientists now believe that the environment is simply storing the heat elsewhere, possibly in the oceans. While local temperatures may warm or cool, anomalies continue to manifest.

The bottom line is that the activity of over 7 billion people can change the Earth, especially over hundreds of years. Carbon dioxide is a powerful greenhouse gas, without it Earth would be permanently frozen. However, too much CO2 and the planet would be covered in jungles and deserts. The difference between a frozen planet and a hothouse is only a few hundred parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. As we break through 400ppm, we push ourselves to the edge of what the Earth's current climate can sustain.

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In fact, we may already be past the tipping point. We certainly are not acting decisively enough to reverse the greater trend.

What will the future hold? The future will see the complete melting of the ice caps in summer, swathes of land will become desert, including California's central valley which is responsible for growing much of the nation's fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Higher food prices will become the norm.

In northern regions, the permafrost is already melting and tree lines are advancing north. Deserts continue to grow and oceans acidify and warm.  Whatever the surface temperature records indicate, every sign on the planet points to warming.

We ignore these trends at the peril of our children and grandchildren.

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