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When the first satellites began capturing aerial images of Antarctica in the early 1970s, scientists discovered a strange hole in the winter ice. Strangely, in the summer in Antarctica, the hole is gone, leaving the scientists perplexed for an explanation. However, during the winter of 2017/18 in Antarctica, the hole, which measures nearly 3,700 km 2, reappeared in the same pack ice, then disappeared.
But experts think they can now have the solution to the mysterious holes.
Scientists from the University of New York at Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have analyzed satellite images and concluded that the holes – called polynyas – could be the result of cyclonic storms in Antarctica.
Cyclones bring warm air and 50-foot waves that can hit the sea ice and push it in all directions. Although the holes seem devastating, scientists say they serve animals from the South Pole, with seals and penguins using them for the tracks.
Polynyas can also help regulate and give an indicator of climate change because the gap between the ocean and the sky can influence the atmosphere.
Diana Francis, NYUAD scientist and senior author of the study, said, "Once opened, the polynya works like a window on the pack ice, transferring huge amounts of energy during the day. winter between the ocean and the atmosphere.
"Because of their large size, high-seas polynya are able to influence the climate regionally and globally by changing ocean circulation."
The researchers write in their study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres: "Given their large size in the middle of the pack ice, high-sea polynya, thanks to intense convection, can influence the climate at the local level, regional level. potentially globally by changing the ocean circulation below.
"This includes the impact on regional atmospheric circulation, the reversal of global traffic, the properties of deep and deep waters of the Antarctic and the absorption of carbon by the oceans."
But Ms. Francis said that as climate change worsens, cyclones would become more common and polyny would become larger.
She said: "Given the link between polynya and cyclones that we have demonstrated in this study, it is assumed that polynya events could become more frequent in a warmer climate as these areas will be more exposed to more intense cyclones. "
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