Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
In stark contrast to the sharp decline in Arctic sea ice, there has been a steady increase in ice extent around Antarctica during the last three decades, especially in the Weddell and Ross seas. In general, climate models do not to capture this trend and a lack of information about sea ice coverage...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc50880 2023-05-15T13:54:27+02:00 Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration Edinburgh, Tom Day, Jonathan J. 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2721-2016 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2721/2016/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-10-2721-2016 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2721/2016/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2721-2016 2020-07-20T16:23:55Z In stark contrast to the sharp decline in Arctic sea ice, there has been a steady increase in ice extent around Antarctica during the last three decades, especially in the Weddell and Ross seas. In general, climate models do not to capture this trend and a lack of information about sea ice coverage in the pre-satellite period limits our ability to quantify the sensitivity of sea ice to climate change and robustly validate climate models. However, evidence of the presence and nature of sea ice was often recorded during early Antarctic exploration, though these sources have not previously been explored or exploited until now. We have analysed observations of the summer sea ice edge from the ship logbooks of explorers such as Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and their contemporaries during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration (1897–1917), and in this study we compare these to satellite observations from the period 1989–2014, offering insight into the ice conditions of this period, from direct observations, for the first time. This comparison shows that the summer sea ice edge was between 1.0 and 1.7° further north in the Weddell Sea during this period but that ice conditions were surprisingly comparable to the present day in other sectors. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Climate change Sea ice Weddell Sea Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Antarctic Arctic Shackleton Weddell Weddell Sea The Cryosphere 10 6 2721 2730 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
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English |
description |
In stark contrast to the sharp decline in Arctic sea ice, there has been a steady increase in ice extent around Antarctica during the last three decades, especially in the Weddell and Ross seas. In general, climate models do not to capture this trend and a lack of information about sea ice coverage in the pre-satellite period limits our ability to quantify the sensitivity of sea ice to climate change and robustly validate climate models. However, evidence of the presence and nature of sea ice was often recorded during early Antarctic exploration, though these sources have not previously been explored or exploited until now. We have analysed observations of the summer sea ice edge from the ship logbooks of explorers such as Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and their contemporaries during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration (1897–1917), and in this study we compare these to satellite observations from the period 1989–2014, offering insight into the ice conditions of this period, from direct observations, for the first time. This comparison shows that the summer sea ice edge was between 1.0 and 1.7° further north in the Weddell Sea during this period but that ice conditions were surprisingly comparable to the present day in other sectors. |
format |
Text |
author |
Edinburgh, Tom Day, Jonathan J. |
spellingShingle |
Edinburgh, Tom Day, Jonathan J. Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration |
author_facet |
Edinburgh, Tom Day, Jonathan J. |
author_sort |
Edinburgh, Tom |
title |
Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration |
title_short |
Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration |
title_full |
Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration |
title_fullStr |
Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating the extent of Antarctic summer sea ice during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration |
title_sort |
estimating the extent of antarctic summer sea ice during the heroic age of antarctic exploration |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2721-2016 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2721/2016/ |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic Shackleton Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic Shackleton Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Climate change Sea ice Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Climate change Sea ice Weddell Sea |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-10-2721-2016 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/10/2721/2016/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2721-2016 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
2721 |
op_container_end_page |
2730 |
_version_ |
1766260330331111424 |