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Scientists Search For Clues to Antarctic Climate

Posted by michael on from the cold-hard-science dept.

Andrevan writes "The Christian Science Monitor reports that a group of US scientists has finished a journey to the southernmost point of Antarctica. The team traversed 775 miles. They hope to reveal information on global warming and precipitation trends that began at the end of the Ice Age. According to Dr. Paul Mayewski, the expedition's leader, analysis should be finished in the next year or two."

2 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. CBC by J+x · · Score: 3, Informative

    The CBC's radio science program Quirks and Quarks interviewed one of the researchers on this topic. You can listen to the MP3 here. Other stories this week had to do with the Spider Goats, among others.

    Summary: The majority of the Anarctic continent is isolated from the rest of the world when it comes to weather patterns. Most research stations aren't in the isolated part, they are in the most northerly portions of the continent. They are warming. The isolated part of Antarctica is cooling. It's basically a re-analysis of existing data that has resulted in this conclusion.

  2. Re:Terminology by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Informative
    Depends whether you're using "geometric south" or "map south". The South Pole on a map is the point where the southern end of the axis of rotation meets the surface.

    With geometry, "south" is be the direction along axis of rotation, -- so the southernmost point could be the point furthest from the equator -- which might be a mountain top some distance from the "South Pole". [Imagine a plane at right angles to the South Pole -- anything piercing that is further "south", perhaps including the heads of visitors standing near the Pole.]