Weer'd World

Gotta love the Church of Global Warming!

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a discovery that raises further concerns about the future contribution of Antarctica to sea level rise, a new study finds that the western part of the ice sheet is experiencing nearly twice as much warming as previously thought.

The temperature record from Byrd Station, a scientific outpost in the center of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), demonstrates a marked increase of 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit (2.4 degrees Celsius) in average annual temperature since 1958 – that is, three times faster than the average temperature rise around the globe….“We’ve already seen enhanced surface melting contribute to the breakup of the Antarctic’s Larsen B Ice Shelf, where glaciers at the edge discharged massive sections of ice into the ocean that contributed to sea level rise,” Monaghan said. “The stakes would be much higher if a similar event occurred to an ice shelf restraining one of the enormous WAIS glaciers.”

Sounds horrible! Let’s look at their work!

Researchers consider the WAIS especially sensitive to climate change, explained Ohio State University doctoral student Julien Nicolas. Since the base of the ice sheet rests below sea level, it is vulnerable to direct contact with warm ocean water. Its melting currently contributes 0.3 mm to sea level rise each year – second to Greenland, whose contribution to sea level rise has been estimated as high as 0.7 mm per year.

Again 0.3mm??? How does one get these ultra-small measurements for something that is so dynamic as seal level. Also note these are the same people who predict island chains disappearing, and coastal cities being flooded.

Due to its location some 700 miles from the South Pole and near the center of the WAIS, Byrd Station is an important indicator of climate change throughout the region.

Tell me more!

In the past, researchers haven’t been able to make much use of the Byrd Station measurements because the data was incomplete; nearly one third of the temperature observations were missing for the time period of the study. Since its establishment in 1957, the station hasn’t always been occupied. A year-round automated station was installed in 1980, but it has experienced frequent power outages, especially during the long polar night, when its solar panels can’t recharge.

Bromwich and two of his graduate students, along with colleagues from NCAR and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, corrected the past Byrd temperature measurements and used corrected data from a computer atmospheric model and a numerical analysis method to fill in the missing observations.

Ahh, so they’re dealing with an unreliable, and incomplete data set…but they have those correction numbers! Wouldn’t at all be possible those numbers would be adjusted to reflect better grant funding, would they?

The end is obviously Neigh! And its all our fault, don’t you know!

h/t Mrs. Weer’d