Antarctic Climate v. Tropical Pacific
Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research have studied Antarctic ice cores linking them to changes in the Pacific Ocean.
According to NCAR, Antarctica is significantly impacted by changes in the Pacific Ocean such as El Nino Effect. This study has identified the main influences are atmospheric and oceanic changes that take place thousands of miles north of West Antarctica.
Scientists are keenly interested in whether warming will destabilize the West Antarctic ice sheet over a period of decades or centuries. The ice sheet covers an area the size of Mexico, averages about 6,500 feet deep, and, if melted, would raise global sea levels by about 8 to 16 feet (2.5-5 meters).Antarctica's climate is difficult to study, partly because there are few observations of this vast and remote region and partly because the cold, dry atmosphere is unlike that of the other six continents. Scientists previously determined that Antarctica overall probably warmed by about 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) in the last century. But it has not been apparent until now that low-lying West Antarctica is more responsive to global warming trends than East Antarctica, where wind patterns have largely kept out comparatively warm air
