• Question: in Antarctica and really cold places like that why is it suddenly getting a lot colder and the ice is starting to break, is this the first sign of global warming??

    Asked by 1luckyegg to Angus, Christian, Hannah, Laura, Simon on 26 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Angus Ferraro

      Angus Ferraro answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      The Arctic is getting warmer and the ice is melting, which is one of the major signs of global warming. The Antarctic isn’t warming up as much. Some parts of Antarctica is getting a lot warmer, but some parts aren’t. But importantly, in general the globe IS getting warmer. Some places won’t get warmer because there are other things that determine the temperature.

      Different weather patterns can change where the air comes from. For example, here in the UK it gets cold when the air comes from a really cold place. This isn’t anything to do with global warming or cooling though because heat is just being moved around, rather than added or removed. Some parts of Antarctica may be getting cooler because of changing weather patterns, but the globe as whole is getting warmer.

    • Photo: Laura Roberts Artal

      Laura Roberts Artal answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      I think overall the Earth is getting warmer and it is a sign of global warming. There are many factors that play a part in a particular place going from warm to cold, like Angus explained.
      The fact that glaciers on mountains are also getting smaller because of quick melting, also indicates that Earth is getting warmer. We think that about 90% of glaciers world wide are shrinking.
      There are a number of bits of evidence, the poles getting warmer and shrinking glaciers are just a few, that indicate clearly that the Earth is getting hotter.

    • Photo: Simon Holyoake

      Simon Holyoake answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      While the average global temperature is increasing, I would be wary of connecting the two events with certainty, in science it is very important to remember that correlation (two or more events happening at the same time) does not imply causation (that the two events are having an effect on each other)

      however as the two correlate very strongly with temperature measurements and atmospheric carbon, in this case there is quite a strong implication that the relationship is causal (ie. increased temperatures are causing ice to melt and break up)

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