Abrupt mid-twentieth-century decline in Antarctic sea-ice extent from whaling records

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 389; no. 6646; pp. 57 - 60
• Main Author: Mare, William K. de la
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 04.09.1997; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Cetacea; Climate; Climate change; Deep water; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Greenhouse effect; Ice; Marine; Physics of the oceans; Sea ice; Whaling; Southern Ocean; Antarctica; PS, Antarctic Ocean; Southern (Antarctic) Ocean; Climate modification; Sea ice

An analysis of whaling records indicate that, averaged over October to April, the Antarctic summer sea-ice edge has moved southwards by 2.8 degrees of latitude between the mid 1950s and early 1970s. This abrupt change poses a challenge to model simulations of recent climate change, and could imply c...