What s happening to Antarctica?
Overall, Antarctica is not warming significantly. Only the Antarctic Peninsula is warming throughout the year at a rate that statisticians call significant . Ice shelves, such as those in the Antarctic Peninsula, float and will not change sea level if they disintegrate or melt. (You can check this by adding an ice block to water in a glass. Mark the height of the water on the glass and then see what happens to the height after the ice melts.) Global warming may even lead to increased precipitation over Antarctica, which would lock water away in the ice caps. This may offset some of the sea-level rise caused by thermal expansion of water.
Overall, Antarctica is not warming significantly. Only the Antarctic Peninsula is warming throughout the year at a rate that statisticians call significant. Ice shelves, such as those in the Antarctic Peninsula, float and will not change sea level if they disintegrate or melt. (You can check this by adding an ice block to water in a glass. Mark the height of the water on the glass and then see what happens to the height after the ice melts.) Global warming may even lead to increased precipitation over Antarctica and Greenland, which would lock water away in the ice caps. This may offset some of the sea-level rise caused by thermal expansion of water.
