Antarctica Defies Global Warming That Is Melting Arctic, Discover How

A recent discovery has revealed why Antarctica is not affected as much by global warming as its North Pole cousin, the Arctic, is.  The reason reportedly comes down to the deep and cold North Atlantic Ocean currents, which subdue the effects of global warming and slow the pace of sea levels rise in Antarctica.

The team of scientists, who conducted the study, suggested that the icy insulation of Antarctica may actually last for the next few centuries before any effect of global warming and the consequent melting of ice sheets starts to show. The news comes as a refreshing delight, especially in the wake of constant threats of rising sea levels, for those inhabiting low lying regions. However, according to reports by the UN Climate science panel, there will be a one meter sea level rise by the end of this century.

If East Antarctica starts to melt in the same pace and manner as the Greenland ice sheet, there will be a global catastrophe that will have a devastating effect on mankind as a whole, and not only those settled along coastlines.  It should however be noted, as per reports, that West Antarctica's ice sheets are warming faster compared to the rest of the continent, but it is still nowhere near threatening levels. Incidentally, the white continent is covered by an approximate four kilometers sheath of ice.

The enormous ice sheets of Antarctica as well as the ocean and wind currents that envelop the continent act as allies that create a buffer zone around it, which in tandem with the reflective sea ice protects the landmass from warming. Furthermore, deep ocean currents of the North Atlantic act like a conveyor belt that carry icy water from the Arctic which further holds Antarctica together.

"With rising carbon dioxide you would expect more warming at both poles, but we only see it at one of the poles, so something else must be going on. The Southern Ocean is unique because its bringing water up from several thousand meters," said Kyle Armour, lead researcher and study author from Seattle's University of Washington. "It is really deep, old water that's coming up to the surface, all around the continent. You have a lot of water coming to the surface, and that water hasn't seen the atmosphere for hundreds of years".

For now, according to the researchers, it will take quite a while before heat trapping greenhouse gases can adversely affect the Southern Ocean. Furthermore, the continuous up-welling waters of the North Atlantic take such a long duration to circulate that they apparently last rose up to meet the air above in the pre-industrial era, more than two hundred years ago.