Comments on: the June ice report https://habitablezone.com/2025/07/10/the-june-ice-report-2/ Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:03:37 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2025/07/10/the-june-ice-report-2/#comment-54156 ER Fri, 11 Jul 2025 19:03:00 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=106708#comment-54156 The trends were less severe than in the northern hemisphere. I'm no polar ice expert, but there are fundamental differences between N and S poles. They all tend to help stabilize the ice budget in the southern ocean. 1) The overall N hemisphere cover is dominated by land, the S by ocean. 2) Ocean currents and weather systems (which help in dispersing temperature extremes) are free to establish themselves in the S but are often complicated and interrupted in the N. 3) Antarctica is an icy island surrounded by sea, the Arctic basin is surrounded by rocky continents. Water and its high thermal inertia tends to damp down seasonal variations. 4) N polar ice is primarily a thin sheet floating on the sea. Only Greenland is thick ice. Antarctic sea ice is a relatively thin shelf surrounding a massive continental glacier miles deep. 5) Snow precipitation falling on Antarctica falls mostly on ice and is likely to immediately freeze and accumulate, even in summer. In the North, it falls on the Arctic ocean and eventually melts or floats away to warmer water and must be replaced. 6) When Arctic sea ice melts in summer, the sun can heat up the ocean. If continental ice melts in Antarctica, there's miles more of it underneath to keep things cool. 7)None of my <del datetime="2025-07-11T19:05:06+00:00">excuses</del> speculations seem to explain why continental ice in Greenland is deteriorating while it seems to be stabilizing in the southern continent, obviously more research is needed! Its not surprising that the ice budgets in both hemispheres is going to differ, although it will probably require more study to specify exactly how. There is also a possibility that there exists some kind of mechanism which will allow the processes in one will somehow compensate for extremes in the other, although I must admit this is purely speculative on my part. I've been following the behavior of polar ice for about 20 years now and its been obvious that the problems which affect the N are much more extreme and dramatic than those in the S. And those of us who live by the sea have always enjoyed cooler summers and warmer winters than those who live in the continental interior. And most important, the vast bulk of the people (and industry) are concentrated N of the Equator. It might be wise to consider moving to Argentina, Australia or South Africa. The trends were less severe than in the northern hemisphere. I’m no polar ice expert, but there are fundamental differences between N and S poles. They all tend to help stabilize the ice budget in the southern ocean.

1) The overall N hemisphere cover is dominated by land, the S by ocean.

2) Ocean currents and weather systems (which help in dispersing temperature extremes) are free to establish themselves in the S but are often complicated and interrupted in the N.

3) Antarctica is an icy island surrounded by sea, the Arctic basin is surrounded by rocky continents. Water and its high thermal inertia tends to damp down seasonal variations.

4) N polar ice is primarily a thin sheet floating on the sea. Only Greenland is thick ice. Antarctic sea ice is a relatively thin shelf surrounding a massive continental glacier miles deep.

5) Snow precipitation falling on Antarctica falls mostly on ice and is likely to immediately freeze and accumulate, even in summer. In the North, it falls on the Arctic ocean and eventually melts or floats away to warmer water and must be replaced.

6) When Arctic sea ice melts in summer, the sun can heat up the ocean. If continental ice melts in Antarctica, there’s miles more of it underneath to keep things cool.

7)None of my excuses speculations seem to explain why continental ice in Greenland is deteriorating while it seems to be stabilizing in the southern continent, obviously more research is needed!

Its not surprising that the ice budgets in both hemispheres is going to differ, although it will probably require more study to specify exactly how. There is also a possibility that there exists some kind of mechanism which will allow the processes in one will somehow compensate for extremes in the other, although I must admit this is purely speculative on my part.

I’ve been following the behavior of polar ice for about 20 years now and its been obvious that the problems which affect the N are much more extreme and dramatic than those in the S. And those of us who live by the sea have always enjoyed cooler summers and warmer winters than those who live in the continental interior.

And most important, the vast bulk of the people (and industry) are concentrated N of the Equator. It might be wise to consider moving to Argentina, Australia or South Africa.

]]> By: RobVG https://habitablezone.com/2025/07/10/the-june-ice-report-2/#comment-54155 RobVG Fri, 11 Jul 2025 16:14:48 +0000 https://habitablezone.com/?p=106708#comment-54155 I'm not disputing climate change, but Antartica is in the headlines. https://scitechdaily.com/antarcticas-astonishing-rebound-ice-sheet-grows-for-the-first-time-in-decades/ I’m not disputing climate change, but Antartica is in the headlines.

https://scitechdaily.com/antarcticas-astonishing-rebound-ice-sheet-grows-for-the-first-time-in-decades/

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