Sea ice extent in Antarctica last month set a new record high for the month of May, according to data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). NSIDC data shows average sea ice extent around Antarctica reached 12.10 million sq. km. in May ‚Äì some 12 per cent above the long term average for the period from 1981 to 2010 of 10.79 million sq.km. May sea ice extent in Antarctica is growing at a rate of 2.9 per cent per decade, according to NSIDC data. —Reporting Climate Science, 3 June 2015
Over the past 60 years the sea has risen by around 30 centimetres locally,sparking warnings that the atoll is set to disappear. But Paul Kench of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and colleagues found no evidence of heightened erosion. After poring over more than a century’s worth of data, including old maps and aerial and satellite imagery, they conclude that 18 out of 29 islands have actually grown. “There is presently no evidence that these islands are going to sink,” says Virginie Duvat of the University of La Rochelle in France. –Penny Sarchet, New Scientist, 2 June 2015
Scientists from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said thousands of updated and corrected temperature observations had shown that temperatures did not plateau and the rate of warming has been at least as high as that seen in the last half of the 20th century. Dr Peter Stott, Head of Climate Monitoring and Attribution at the Britain’s Met Office Hadley Centre, said the paper confirms that uncertainties in the global temperature record are one part of understanding the recent slowdown in warming. “The slowdown hasn’t gone away, however,” he said. –Graham Lloyd, The Australian, 5 June 2015
Dr David Whitehouse of the Global Warming Policy Foundation said the new research was “a highly speculative and slight paper that produces a statistically marginal result by cherrypicking time intervals, resulting in a global temperature graph that is at odds with those produced by the UK Met Office and NASA.” He said caution should be used in using this paper as evidence that the global annual average surface temperature “hiatus” of the past 18 years has been explained. “The authors have produced adjustments that are at odds with other all other surface temperature datasets, as well as those compiled via satellite,” Dr Whitehouse said. –Graham Lloyd, The Australian, 5 June 2015
The paper by Karl et al. (2015) published today in Science is an ‘express’ report and not up to the standards of a comprehensive paper. It is a highly speculative and slight paper that produces a statistically marginal result by cherry-picking time intervals, resulting in a global temperature graph that is at odds with all other surface temperature datasets, as well as those compiled via satellite. —Global Warming Policy Forum, 4 June 2015
