The Antarctica, located in the South Pole, has in the recent years seen an upsurge in ice compared to the Arctic which has recorded a huge reduction. This study has confounded scientists who are now claiming that this is the likely trend as the effects of global warming begin to hit the earth. Skeptics on the other hand are using this information to claim that the said global warming is a myth. Scientists however are of the opinion that what is happening should not be misinterpreted but rather is amongst the broader effects of global warming. The current increase in ice is as a result of change in wind patterns and the developing mammoth ozone hole covering the Antarctic which have been as a result of human activities.
Most experts agree with this study stating that what is happening in the Antarctic makes a lot of sense and is part of the consequences of global warming purely blamable on human activities. Although the expansion is not equal to the huge proportions evidenced in the Arctic, it is nevertheless a pointer of worse times ahead and should be addressed. This is according to Waleed Abdalati, a leading expert with NASA.
According to the study, for close to thirty years since the research started, for every five unit of ice lost by the Arctic, Antarctica gains one unit. In the long run, this loss in the Arctic is likely to have adverse effects to the US in terms of unpredictable weather. The two polar ends are ultimately different but an expansion of the Antarctica will have no notable effect as it is surrounded by ocean. The wind and the huge ozone hole are complicating the climatic patterns. The huge hole, thought to be larger that North America and a result of human pollution, maintains cooler temperatures in the Antarctica resulting to stronger winds further expanding the ice.
Further reports indicate that the ice is becoming snowier due to the cool temperatures and heavy moisture in the air. The current expansion is estimated to be of about one percent every decade. This may seem insignificantly low as the Antarctica is huge. The sluggish warming of the Antarctica had been predicted in initial studies but experts are saying that the changes in the recent years have been intense with dangerous cracks in the ice sea being expected to happen soon. The situation, according to experts, is quite dangerous.
