Antarctica ice shelves disappearing

Less than a week after one government agency reported that the Arctic could be ice-free each summer in as few as 30 years (rather than 100 or more), another U.S. agency is reporting that Antarctica is also melting much faster than had been previously reported.

The U.S. Geologic Survey report, prepared in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey, should dispel the lingering myth that Antarctica is unaffected by global warming, or that a lack of melting there somehow means global warming isn't real. While some parts of Antarctica have experienced snow and ice build-up in recent years, a growing body of research shows that the ozone hole is a primary reason, and that much of Antarctica is in fact responding to global warming just as expected: by melting.

Not only are Antarctica's glaciers melting more rapidly than previously known, but one ice shelf, the Wordie Ice Shelf, has disappeared completely. Another, the Larsen Ice Shelf, has lost its entire northern portion, a chunk three times the size of Rhode Island, in the space of 23 years.

As in the Arctic, as darker sea water replaces floating ice, the result is an increased cycle of warming, as the water absorbs energy from the sun that the ice had reflected.

"This study provides the first insight into the extent of Antarctica's coastal and glacier change," Salazar noted. "The rapid retreat of glaciers there demonstrates once again the profound effects our planet is already experiencing -- more rapidly than previously known -- as a consequence of climate change."

The report was released late on a Friday afternoon -- typically the time the government releases information it wants the public to ignore. (The results would be reported primarily on Saturday, the day Americans are least likely to read the news, and reporters trying to cover the story find it difficult to track down the right sources on a Friday evening.) In this case, however, it's hard to imagine why the Obama Administration would bury the results, given that it's trying to drum up public support for a politically controversial cap-and-trade regulation that would reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

More from The Daily Green

• Stunning Photos of Antarctica
• Alaskan Glacier Photos
• One Glacier That Is NOT Retreating
• 15 Simple Steps to Help the Environment
• How Green Are You? Take the Quiz