Index to this page: Global warming , penguins , seals , Vernadsky Base
, Shackleton , Deception
Island , Trip Maps
Photographs Copyright 2005 by Tom Dempsey. I
last updated this page on May 14, 2008.
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Since the industrial revolution, humans have burnt fossil fuels, deforested land, and grazed livestock so much that we have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration by 35%. Most climate scientists now agree that human-caused carbon gas emissions are accelerating global warming, especially in the Northern Hemisphere and the Antarctic Peninsula. The Antarctic Peninsula is a relatively small but climatically important piece of the continent of Antarctica which juts into the westward path of the strongest and fastest of all ocean currents, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC).
An article in American Scientist Magazine July-August 2008 reports that "The average midwinter temperature here [at Palmer Station, on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula] has increased by 6 degrees Celsius since 1950; this is the highest rate of warming anywhere on the planet, five times the global average....Whereas the continent proper has not warmed appreciably in the past century, there has been a 3.4 degree increase in the mean annual temperature along the peninsula....If the trend continues,...[after] the middle of this century... sea ice will not form in most years, leading to a regime change in the ecosystem....We sound an urgent call to mitigate all the factors under human control that are contributing to global climate change." The three scientists who wrote this speak with the authority of having "spent a collective total of 36 seasons at Palmer."
In general, global warming is happening fastest north of the equator where most of the land mass is located. However, the air of the two hemispheres only takes a few years to mix, so the Southern Hemisphere and Antarctica should also warm. The average temperature of the continent of Antarctica is predicted to rise by a small amount over the next 50 years. Two-thirds of the planet's freshwater is frozen in Antarctica. If global warming eventually starts melting the Antarctica ice shelves floating on sea ice, that won't raise worldwide sea levels on its own, but the increased flow rate of the land-based glaciers feeding the ice shelves would add to global sea-level rise. Any increase in the rate of ice melting is expected to be at least partly offset by increased snowfall in Antarctica as a result of warming climate. However, the problem of global sea-level rise could be overshadowed by the problem of carbon-dioxide-induced acceleration of ocean acidity affecting oceans & fisheries -- nobody knows for sure.
Humans have forced a grand warming experiment affecting all life on earth, with unknown consequences. We need to continue studying Earth's climate and ecosystems while accelerating political and economic forces to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
References: 1) National Geographic Magazine August 2007 & more; 2) American Scientist Magazine July-August 2008.
Left: Gentoo
penguins have a distinctive white patch
behind their eye.
Above: Ice arch splits from glacier.
Above: A jumble of icebergs.
Above: Pushing through the sea icepack in Antarctica. On
this trip, the Explorer carried us as far south as 65º 41 minutes
67 seconds of latitude,
before pack ice stopped us about 40 miles short of the Arctic Circle.
Above: Mountains on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Navigation instrument, and sea pack ice.
Left: old boats from the whaling era.
Above: Vernadsky Station, now operated by Ukraine. The
hole in Earth's ozone layer was first discovered here by British
researchers.
Left: This replica of Shackleton's famous 23-foot
lifeboat, the "James Caird" is temporarily on the dock at the port of Ushuaia. In
the James Caird lifeboat, Ernest Shackleton and a few shipmates performed the remarkable feat of crossing
over 800 miles of one of the most treacherous seas in
the world, from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island.
Below: Sailors from the wrecked ship Endurance
launch
the lifeboat "James Caird" from the shore of Elephant
Island, April 24th, 1916. This photograph [free for
public domain distribution] was captured by Frank Hurley during
the
Imperial
Trans-Antarctic Expedition and published in the United States in Ernest
Shackleton's book, "South", in 1919.
Above: Exploring volcanic Deception Island.
Above: Ash layers on Deception Island.
Above: Eroded column of volcanic ash offshore of Deception Island.
Above:
Offloading a Zodiac boat at Deception Island from the ship M/S
Explorer.
Above:
People board the Zodiac from the ship M/S Explorer.
Above: A man watches Gentoo penguins walk to the ocean to retrieve food
for themselves and their chicks. Offshore is anchored our ship, the
M/S Explorer.
Above: Gentoo penguins descend a hill on their frequent commute
to feed at sea.
Left: Gentoo penguins are white on the front and black on their back.
Patagonia
& Antarctica Trip Maps
Left: As shown on this map, we flew from Seattle 7000 miles (through Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas) to Buenos Aires, taking 15 hours in the air. Argentina is +5 hours jet lag from Pacific Standard Time (on the West Coast, USA). In these three maps, flights are light-green, and ground transport is purple.
Index to this Antarctica page: Global warming , penguins , seals , Vernadsky Base , Shackleton , Deception Island , Trip Maps
See also these related pages: Tom's Gallery of Antarctica images ~ Argentine Patagonia & Ushuaia ~ Chilean Patagonia
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