Antarctic Melt
Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf now melts in the dead of winter when the average temperature on the adjacent Antarctic peninsula is only 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
It’s been known for a while that Antarctic ice shelves are thinning and retreating, mainly because warmer currents below are melting them. But new remote sensors have found that downslope winds can also cause them to thin.
These “foehn winds” blowing off Antarctica’s mountains can cause air temperatures to rise several degrees, sometimes to above freezing. The phenomenon had earlier been observed in summer, but it’s now happening in the depth of winter.
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