Ocean Winds Keep Antarctica Cold, Australia Dry

While most of Antarctica is remaining cold, rapid increases in summer ice melt, glacier retreat and ice shelf collapses are being observed in Antarctic Peninsula, where the stronger winds passing through Drake Passage are making the climate warm exceptionally quickly. Until this study, published in Nature Climate Change, Antarctic climate observations were available only from the middle of last century. By analysing ice cores from Antarctica, along with data from tree rings and lakes in South America, Dr Abram and her colleagues were able to extend the history of the westerly winds back over the last millennium. "The Southern Ocean winds are now stronger than at any other time in the past 1,000 years," Abram said. read more

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