A resolution of the Antarctic paradox

摘要

In recent years, the polar regions have provided some striking examples of rapid environmental change. Perhaps the most notable of these has been a reduction of more than 30% in the summer extent of Arctic Ocean sea ice since the late 1970s. In the Antarctic, the pattern of change has been more complex. Although the extent of Antarctic sea ice has fallen significantly in some regions, it has increased in others, leading to a slight rise in overall winter-ice extent (Fig. 1). Establishing the drivers of these changes has proved challenging, and the observed increase in Antarctic sea-ice extent - seemingly paradoxical in a warming climate - has frequently been used to question the widely accepted view that recent climate change is primarily anthropogenic in origin.