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Science 3 June 1983:
Vol. 220. no. 4601, pp. 1005 - 1012
DOI: 10.1126/science.220.4601.1005
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Articles

Variability of Antarctic Sea Ice: and Changes in Carbon Dioxide

H. Jay Zwally 1, C. L. Parkinson 1, and J. C. Comiso 1

1 Ice Section, Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

A definitive long-term decrease in the extent of antarctic sea ice is not detectable from 9 years (1973 to 1981) of year-round satellite observations and limited prior data. Regional interannual variability is large, with sea ice decreasing in some regions while increasing in others. A significant decrease in overall ice extent during the mid-1970's, previously suggested to reflect warming induced by carbon dioxide, has not been maintained. In particular, the extent of ice in the Weddell Sea region has rebounded after a large decrease concurrent with a major oceanographic anomaly, the Weddell polynya. Over the 9 years, the trends are nearly the same in all seasons, but for periods of 3 to 5 years, greater winter ice maxima are associated with lesser summer ice minima. The decrease of the mid-1970's was preceded by an increase in ice extent from 1966 to 1972, further indicating the presence of cyclical components of variation that obscure any long-term trends that might be caused by a warming induced by carbon dioxide.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ice Core Evidence for Antarctic Sea Ice Decline Since the 1950s.
M. A. J. Curran, T. D. van Ommen, V. I. Morgan, K. L. Phillips, and A. S. Palmer (2003)
Science 302, 1203-1206
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Environmental Variability and Its Impact on the Reproductive Cycle of Antarctic Krill.
L. B. Quetin and R. M. Ross (2001)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 41, 74-89
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Observed Hemispheric Asymmetry in Global Sea Ice Changes.
D. J. Cavalieri, P. Gloersen, C. L. Parkinson, J. C. Comiso, and H. J. Zwally (1997)
Science 278, 1104-1106
   Abstract »    Full Text »
The role of Antarctic sea ice in global climate change.
E. Hanna (1996)
Progress in Physical Geography 20, 371-401
   Abstract »    PDF »
Hypertemporal analysis of remotely sensed sea-ice data for climate change studies.
J. M. Piwowar and E. F. LeDrew (1995)
Progress in Physical Geography 19, 216-242
   Abstract »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)