Re:World won't cool without geoengineering, warns report
by mcv on Friday September 27, 2013 @08:11AM
(#6456515)
I don't see how they could offset reduction of mass in the arctic; they're different systems. Note that loss in sea ice doesn't lead to rising sea levels; it's land ice that matters. If Antarctica indeed has a net gain in land ice, then it would be interesting if that offsets the projected loss in glaciers on Greenland. Also relevant is to what extent it's really long term gain in land ice.
To the best of our knowledge the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is gaining mass[1] due to increased precipitation and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing mass[2] due to acceleration of glaciers. I believe there is also an increase in Antarctic sea ice extent [3]. As far as I know these increases are not enough to offset the reduction in mass in the Arctic but I don't have a comparison to hand. Wait a few days and the IPCC report will probably have a decent summary.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Antarctic_Ice_Sheet#Ice_m... [2] http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2012/12/the-he... [3] http://tamino.wordpress.com/2013/03/16/antarctic-sea-ice-gai...