| Summary: | The purpose of this thesis was to uncover the most recent climactic conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. This research was conducted in two ways. First a meta-analysis was conducted on papers and research involving global warming and related topics including effects on terrestrial and aquatic life as well as Global Oceanic Cycles. Second data from four climate stations in the Polar Regions over the past 30-50 years was collected and analyzed. Information involving surface air temperatures and precipitation were compared to one another. Both northern and southern hemispheric anomaly data were also used in this comparison. The null hypotheses was that surface air temperature data will show a similar rate of temperature increase in both Polar Regions but that surface air temperatures in the Antarctic will be cooler and remain more consistent, compared to Arctic conditions throughout the time studied. The data studied from the four climate stations support the hypothesis. After calculating slopes and testing for significant differences between the Antarctic and Arctic climate stations it was found that the null hypothesis was accepted; meaning there was not a significant difference between the regions. Although a clear view of the temperature graphs indicates that the Arctic is clearly being affected more quickly and drastically than the Antarctic, they are not statistically significantly different from one another in their rate of temperature increase. In addition, after carefully studying the graphs it was discovered that climate in these regions could more accurately be described as a quadratic relationship with time rather than linear. This indicates that temperatures at the beginning of the 50-year record were warmer than the low, which iv occurred approximately 25 years ago. This quadratic response is reflected in oscillating curves of solar activity, which appears responsible for this behavior (Friis-Christensen and Lassen, 1991). As for global warming it is steadily happening. The rate at which the Earth will feel more serious affects could be anywhere from years to decades away. At the current rate of CO2 accumulation and population growth these effects may become more evident. It was concluded that much more research, preferably non-invasive and environmentally friendly, is necessary to obtain a more certain timeline of events.
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