Www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/far/wg_I/ipcc_far_wg_I_chapter_09.pdf. Klaus Meiners (English) Ellsworth Live. Six things to know about Antarctic ice. 12 Nov 2012, 15:30Roz Pidcock When scientists talk about ice and climate change, it's often about how quickly it's disappearing. So recent news stories about Antarctic sea ice growing may come as a surprise.
The amount of ice in the ocean around Antarctica is indeed increasing, but this is only part of what's going on in the Antarctic as a whole. We've put together six things you should know about climate change and Antarctic ice. 1. Antarctic waters are warming faster than the global average Along with the rest of the world, the Antarctic is warming up. 2. Despite rapidly warming water, the amount of ice that floats on the Southern Ocean around Antarctica - known as sea ice - is slightly increasing. 3. New research released in the journal Nature Geoscience yesterday tracked Antarctic sea ice between 1992 and 2010. The new study says that the wind change may be down to natural climate variability, but that there is evidence that the southern hemisphere ozone hole also plays a part. 4. 5. Obama Win Keeps NASA's Space Plans on Course.
The reelection of US president Barack Obama could mean one small step back to the moon and a giant leap to landing astronauts on Mars and asteroids. In 2010, the Obama administration set a goal to get astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025 and to Mars by the mid-2030s. "We're going back to the moon, attempting a first-ever mission to send humans to an asteroid and actively developing a plan to take Americans to Mars," said National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) deputy chief Lori Garver at a conference in September. And while Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney previously said he'd reassess NASA's future, experts say Obama's victory Tuesday means NASA will soon make major announcements surrounding future projects, that were uncertain under a Romney administration.
According to reports, plans include NASA developing a huge rocket called the Space Launch System (SLS) and a crew capsule called Orion, to begin launching astronauts by 2021. Crocodiles And Alligators Have Some Of The Most Acutely Sensitive Skin In The Animal Kingdom, New Research Has Found. Animals Published on November 11th, 2012 | by James Ayre Crocodiles and alligators have some of the most acutely sensitive skin in the animal kingdom, new research has found. Though their thick bumpy armored looking skin is immediately recognizable, it may not be obvious at first that so much of their predatory super-awareness derives from the structure of their skin and its exceptional sensitivity. Their highly-developed sense of touch is based on and concentrated in the pigmented armor looking domes that are all over their body. For alligators, this sensory awareness is concentrated around their jaws and skull.
In new research, it has been found that these spots are essentially a concentrated bundle of touch sensors that are even more sensitive to vibration and pressure than human fingertips are. “This intriguing finding inspired us to look further,” Catania said. “I didn’t test for sensitivity to magnetic fields, but we don’t think this is likely either,” said Leitch.
About the Author. SIPEX 2012. The Antarctic spring of 2012 will see the culmination of years of preparation for the ACE CRC sea-ice group, who will lead an international multi-disciplinary sea ice voyage to East Antarctica. More than 50 scientists from eight countries are scheduled to leave on September 14 aboard the Australian research and supply vessel Aurora Australis. They will conduct the Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystem eXperiment (SIPEX-2), a seven-week voyage into the sea-ice zone to be jointly coordinated by ACE CRC and the Australian Antarctic Division. Follow science reporter Dr Wendy Pyper on board Aurora Australis for SIPEX-II. Video of Dr Klaus Meiners describing the voyage The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists has a SIPEX blog here. Research will be conducted at about 100-120° East, the region off Law Dome and to the east of Australia’s Casey Station.
Work will begin at the sea-ice edge and the aim will be to penetrate the pack ice towards the coastal land-fast sea ice. IceBridge - Studying Earth's Polar Ice.