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Jonathon Neumann

Dr. Clark

GEOL 381

4 March 2016

Is It Melting?

Among the many arguments that man-made global warming is changing the climate, one

is that Antarctica has been losing ice due to anthropogenic global warming, but, if one does his

or her research, one may discover that scientists, such as Steve Goreham, have sources to argue

that Antarctic ice may be increasing. At the same time, climatologists have responded

questioning the sources that skeptics such as Goreham have provided and argue that the ice will

continue to melt due to the amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere. From my perspective, the land

ice is melting, and as NASA and other groups continue to develop stronger tools to measure the

changes in ice, we hopefully can see clearer what is coming from the ice caps melting.
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Steve Goreham, an environmentalist against the theory of man-made global warming,

disagrees with the scientists who believe the ice is melting

and will continue to melt at an accelerated rate. He

claims that these scientists are overlooking the large

Antarctic ice cap in their collected data: [climate

scientists] rarely discuss the antarctic icecap, which holds

about 90 percent of Earths ice because it is not melting as

they predicted in the past (Goreham). The graph above displays Mr. Gorehams data concerning

sea ice variation in the Antarctic region. He argues that scientists continue to point at the melting

of the arctic ice as evidence to support their conclusions even though these ice caps make up

only 1-2% of the earths total ice. In addition, he does not believe if the arctic ice continues to

melt that it will have a very large effect on global sea-levels, and even if it does, it is part of a

natural cycle.

A good conversation partner with Steve Goreham is Lonnie Shekhtman, a journalist from

The Christian Science Monitor, who brought some NASAs data concerning the melting of ice in

Antarctica to light. She too questions the assumption that Antarctic ice is melting. Quoting a

NASA glaciologist, Jay Zwally, she questioned the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Changes (IPCC) claim that Antarcticas melting ice is contributing 0.27 millimeters of water to

the sea level annually (Shekhtman). Dr. Zwally concludes, contrary to this belief, that: The good

news is that Antarctica is not currently contributing to sea level rise, but is taking 0.23

millimeters per year away (Shekhtman). At the same time, Zwally stated that he was not

necessarily contradicting the IPCC: We're essentially in agreement with other studies that show

an increase in ice dischargeOur main disagreement is for East Antarctica and the interior of
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West Antarctica; there, we see an ice gain that exceeds the losses in the other areas"

(Shekhtman). Zwally is essentially saying that the melting losses are being made up by what is

freezing on the Antarctic ice continent; he is not discounting global warming nor the rise in sea

levels, he is asking; however, where the IPCC is getting some of its data. Shekhtmans article

provides a substantial argument from November 2015; however, even though it is recent, there

are skeptics of Zwallys research as well as Steve Gorehams argument.

In response to Gorehams claim that scientists are ignoring a lot of the data, I have

investigated what the IPCC and other groups have claimed about global warmings effects on ice.

In their explanation, the IPCC does not necessarily focus on the Arctic ice caps more so than the

Antarctic; in fact, after they report what is going on in the Arctic they admit: It is not yet clear

whether changes in sea ice of the past few decades are linked to a natural cycle in climate

variability or have resulted explicitly from global warming (IPCC). In addition, they actually

have done a substantial amount of research on climate data in Antarctica, and if they did not

there would be no data for Zwally to contradict in the first place. Therefore, Goreham cannot be

pointing fingers at the IPCCs current claims; perhaps a misinformed climate activist may be to

blame for this misinformation. In addition, there is a distinction between sea ice and land ice;

land ice is the ice that has accumulated over time (i.e. thousands of years) whereas sea ice is ice

which forms in salt water during the winter and almost entirely melts again in the summer

(Cook). The reader may remember that Goreham uses sea ice variation in his proof; climate

scientists still debate this rise in sea ice but are also considering something Goreham does not

mention: that land ice is melting in areas like Greenland and land ice is what is contributing to

some sea level rise (Cook). Therefore, though sea ice may be increasing; Goreham ignores the

data of land ice melting. In addition, even if the Antarctic sea ice increasing, it is no cause to
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celebrate because scientists such as John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey have stated the

sea ice increasing may be due to a natural cycle that does not disprove global warming: it

seems likely that this [increase in sea ice] is just natural climate variability, which is large in the

Antarctic region as shown by the paleoclimate records we get from ice cores and other records

(Mooney). Therefore, it seems Goreham is ignoring some important data that scientists have

recognized; however, the debate about sea ice continues with the previously mentioned Dr.

Zwally.

Though Dr. Zwallys research claims that the overall mass of Antarctica is increasing

rather than decreasing, many sources have questioned his conclusions about ice recharge. A

number of the ones questioning him use Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)

satellites to see if the net losses of ice discharge were outweighing what was being regained.

These two satellites circle our planet and measure the changing mass of ice based on differential

tugs of gravity on the spacecraft as they pass over it (Mooney). The research found by these

satellites is that the land ice is decreasing. These critics, including NASA scientist Dr. Eric

Rignot, find GRACE research to be more reliable than Zwallys Ice, Cloud and land Elevation

Satellite (ICEsat) data; which, according to some, does not consider the rising of land as the

weight of ice has been removed from it since the last ice age (Mooney). However, Dr. Zwally

himself has previously participated in GRACE satellite data and says that his research is a good

critique on its assumptions. To be honest, the data being measured by all of these scientists is so

precise it is amazing that we are now able to measure so accurately even if there are

discrepancies about the ice recharge in East Antarctica.

Steve Gorehams critique of climatologists is a good critique that needs to be addressed,

but his information is also outdated as the IPCC has responded to such claims. Additionally,
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when he spoke in class he claimed he was not political or biased like many government-funded

climatologists because he makes his profits from speaking on what he believes and writing

books. Though such an argument is valid, it does not prove he is unbiased. His critics could also

easily point at him at say he is doing it for attention and funding from those who are skeptical of

anthropogenic contributions to global warming, and, additionally, he is most likely not going to

change his mind either because he, like those he accuses, has an agenda. He also quickly brushed

away the melting of the Arctic ice as if it was not as big of a deal as people are making it to be,

but, according to the IPCC, certain people should be concerned: Climate change impacts [in

the Arctic] may be particularly disruptive for communities of indigenous peoples following

traditional lifestyles (IPCC). Dr. Zwally, on the other hand, is a reputable source who is

questioning the assumptions of other scientists; however, he himself does not deny global

warming, nor does he think his data disproves global warming in the Antarctic, he simply is

reporting his findings. From what I see, I think that the tools for measuring data need to improve;

however, this does not stop the problem of northern ice caps, such as Greenland melting at a high

rate, and thus causing foreseeable problems in the coming decades because of a loss in albedo

over time. In addition, Zwally agrees that we need to be aware of the dangers, such as rise in sea

levels due to ice melting, in the coming decades due to man-made global warming.
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Bibliography

"Chapter 16: Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic)." IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2016. <http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg2/index.php?

idp=593>.

Goreham, Steve. "Climate Facts: Icecap Melting and Sea Level Rise?" Steve Goreham: Author,

Speaker, and Environmental Researcher. Sept. 2012. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Mooney, Chris. "This Is Climate Skeptics Top Argument About Antarctica and Why Its

Wrong. The Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Shekhtman, Lonnie. "NASA Says Antarctica Is Actually Gaining Ice. Does This Mean Climate Is

Fine?" Christian Science Monitor. LexisNexis Academic. 1 Nov. 2015. Web. 03 Mar.

2016.