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dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
Mon Apr 1, 2013, 07:55 AM Apr 2013

Melt may explain Antarctica's sea ice expansion

Climate change is expanding Antarctica's sea ice, according to a scientific study in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The paradoxical phenomenon is thought to be caused by relatively cold plumes of fresh water derived from melting beneath the Antarctic ice shelves.

This melt water has a relatively low density, so it accumulates in the top layer of the ocean.

The cool surface waters then re-freeze more easily during Autumn and Winter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21991487

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