Winds of Change: Why Antarctic Sea Ice Is Growing


About 80 percent of the Antarctic sea ice growth can be explained by changes in the prevailing winds around the frozen continent says new study.
Credit: flickr/Liene Sturaine





Since the wind pushes sea ice ahead of it, this tends to pile sea ice up into ridges of increased thickness, which creates areas of open water prone to freezing — a similar effect to last year’s study, but with a slightly different cause.

What Zhang doesn’t know is why the vortex has gotten stronger. It could simply be a result of natural climate variations, with no connection to human activity. It could also be related to the ozone hole that still persists over the southern continent. That manmade gap in the planet’s protective ozone layer isn’t a result of global warming; its cause is manmade ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons, whose use has been phased out, but which still linger in the polar stratosphere.

But the loss of ozone above Antarctica has altered the local energy balance in the atmosphere, and could, in principle, make the polar vortex stronger.

The loss of ozone above Antarctica has altered the energy balance in the atmosphere, and could, in principle, make the polar vortex stronger.
Credit: flickr/Todd Radenbaugh

It’s plausible, Zhang said, but the dynamics of the polar atmosphere are “very, very complicated. I haven’t seen a clear explanation yet of why the winds have gotten stronger.”



Related Content 
2013 Arctic Sea Ice Loss 
Antarctic Sea Ice Grows as Result of Warming 
Forget the Melting Arctic, Sea Ice in Antarctica is Growing! 
No, Arctic Sea Ice Has Not Recovered, Scientists Say 
Winds Seen As Key Driver Of Antarctica's Growing Sea Ice 
Ozone Hole’s Shifting Winds May Sap Major Carbon Sink