antarctica

You may have heard that Antarctica is getting cooler, but it's actually not.

The icy region is heating up, according to a study that essentially backs previous global warming research.

The analysis of satellite and weather records for Antarctica shows that freezing temperatures had risen by about 0.8 Fahrenheit since the 1950s.

The author of the study said the temperature rise is "very comparable to the global average", while global warming nay-sayers have used reports of a chilling Antarctica as proof that global warming is a myth.

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• An island-sized chunk of ice has started to break away from Antarctica, prompting scientists to say it is further evidence of a warming climate. Though it's been stable for most of the century, it has been retreating since the 1990s, and satellite images suggest that part of the ice shelf will soon crumble away. A professor from the British Antarctic Survey said, "I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread — we'll know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be." He added, "this is not a sea level rise issue, but is yet another indication of climate change in the Antarctic Peninsula and how it is affecting the environment."



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