While the globe simmered last month to its warmest April in 135 years of records (tied with 2010, to be exact), Antarctic sea ice was at its all-time largest April extent on record, according to a report released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
In fact, Antarctic sea ice last month was measured at 3.47 million square miles, which was 21.6% above the long-term average, the greatest April extent since records began in 1979.
How can this be? After all, a well-publicized report last week said that the vast glaciers of western Antarctica are rapidly melting and losing ice to the sea and almost certainly have "passed the point of no return?"
Well, although they are related to each other, there's a difference between Antarctica's sea ice (which freezes and melts with the seasons) and the Antarctic glacial ice that's melting due to global warming, according to scientist Ted Scambos of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
It's the steady melting of the glacial ice in Antarctica that's expected to contribute to global sea-level rise of four feet or more in the coming centuries.
Overall, the amount and volume of ice in Antarctica depends on a complex relationship among air, water, wind and ozone depletion, with both natural and man-made influences involved. A pair of studies in recent years posited that changing wind patterns were responsible for the expanding sea ice, Scambos said.
As for April's global air temperature in April, it marked the 38th consecutive April -- and 350th straight month -- with temperatures above the 20th-century average, NOAA reported. Temperatures were especially warm in Alaska, Europe, northern Africa, and much of Asia.
Source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2014/05/20/april-climate-report-antarctica-ice/9339943/
