Hot Ice

Record growth of Antarctic sea ice is because of global warming. Really:

“The primary reason for this is the nature of the circulation of the Southern Ocean – water heated in high southern latitudes is carried equatorward, to be replaced by colder waters upwelling from below, which inhibits ice loss,” Serreze wrote in an e-mail. “Upon this natural oceanic thermostat, one will see the effects of natural climate variations, [the rise] appears to be best explained by shifts in atmospheric circulation although a number of other factors are also likely involved.”

"Other factors," huh? Such as you pulling this opinion out of your ass and attempting to pass it off as a scientific hypothesis? You mean those "factors"?

I thanked Serreze for his response but told him that I still didn’t know what heated the water at high latitudes. Was it, simply, global warming?

“Exactly!” he said.

“How many degrees is the water heated, before it is transported toward the equator?” I asked.

“I don’t have data on that,” Serreze said.

Of course you don't! Why ever would you need data and facts and information to back up a scientific hypothesis? I mean, it's all "settled science," right? Data? Pssh! We don't need no stinkin' data.

Perhaps someone else has some data to support your position, yes?

He indicated that Marika Holland, a sea ice specialist and climate modeler at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, would possibly have some data as well as, perhaps, a fuller description of the mechanism warming the water nearest Antarctica and the associated growth of sea ice.

Holland did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Gavin Schmidt, director of Goddard Institute for Space Studies, also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

So... no data? Lots and lots and lots of very strong opinions, but no data. Help me out, here: when do we get to the science part?


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Hat-tip to Banduar