Warm ocean water is melting the largest glacier in East Antarctica from below, according to new Australian Antarctic research.

The team of 23 scientists and technicians from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (ACE CRC), the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, returned to Hobart today on Australia’s icebreaker Aurora Australis, after taking the first water samples ever collected alongside the Totten Glacier.

Voyage Chief Scientist Dr Steve Rintoul, from the ACE CRC, said that until this voyage no oceanographic measurements had been made within 50 kilometres of the glacier.

“At 120km long and more than 30 km wide the Totten Glacier is one of the world’s largest and least understood glacial systems,” Dr Rintoul said.

“It drains 538,000 square kilometres of East Antarctica, an area more than twice the size of Victoria. 70 billion tonnes of ice flow out of it every year, enough to fill Sydney Harbour every two and a half days.”

read more: http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2015/warm-ocean-water-melts-largest-glacier-in-east-antarctica

The oceans must come to equilibrium with the atmosphere, although that will be delayed while greenhouse gas concentrations and the net heat input to the Earth continue to rise. What will happen as equilibrium is approached? The oceans will stop absorbing the excess heat and it will be redistributed in two ways. The atmospheric temperature will rise further, increasing the radiation to space, and heat will be diverted to melting glacial and polar ice. The ultimate equilibrium will be reached when ice stops melting, or even disappears, and the increased temperature suffices to radiate away all of the heat. But, before that, there will be a prolonged intermediate state of accelerated ice melting with a dramatic effect on sea level. Melting of the Arctic ice cap will not contribute because it is floating and only displaces the amount of water that it will produce by melting. Grounded ice is the problem and the big stores of it are on Greenland and Antarctica. If 50% of the heat now going into the oceans is diverted to melting this ice, the rate of sea level rise will increase from the present 3.3 millimetres per year to more than 3 centimetres per year, that is up to 3 metres in a human lifetime, and, perhaps eventually, 10 centimetres per year. These numbers reflect the fact that ice melting is far more effective in increasing the volume of ocean water than is thermal expansion. This is emphasised by pointing out that, since the peak of the last ice age, sea level has risen by 120 metres. If this had to be explained by thermal expansion, the entire ocean would be at boiling point. The long term concern about sea level arises from ice melting, not thermal expansion.

This leads to another question. Why is Antarctic ice melting more slowly than Arctic ice? As I have mentioned, the oceans are absorbing heat and this means that they are effectively preventing it from reaching the ice. This is more noticeable in the southern hemisphere, which has far more ocean. To reach Antarctica, warmed air must cross a vast expanse of ocean that is below the temperature of equilibrium with the air and absorbs much of the excess heat. By contrast, the Arctic is more closely surrounded by land masses, which are not significant net heat absorbers. As equilibrium is approached that difference will disappear.  Antarctica will lose the protection of the Southern Ocean and melt faster.

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/we-live-in-a-greenhouse-with-no-vents/6277528

Gus: Yes... Note to humans and myself: Antarctica IS ALREADY MELTING FASTER... See article at top.

Climate change exacerbated the damage caused by Cyclone Pam, which left a trail of destruction across Vanuatu, Australia's Climate Council says.

The statement was made in a briefing paper released by the Council, which found rising sea surface temperatures would mean more intense cyclones.

"Higher surface temperatures can mean that you have higher wind speed and more damaging rainfall," Amanda McKenzie from the Council said.

"And what we saw in Vanuatu was in the lead-up to the cyclone, sea surface temperatures were well above average."

Ms McKenzie said rising sea levels would multiply the damaging effects of cyclone storm surges.

"Climate change has risen global sea levels by 20 centimetres, that doesn't sound like much but when you think about the volume of extra water riding on a storm surge, it's a significant amount," she said.

The category-five cyclone packed wind gusts of more than 320 kilometres an hour and caused extensive flooding.

At least 11 people were confirmed killed and around 70 per cent of the island nation's population was displaced.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-19/climate-change-exacerabated-cyclone-pam-damage/6331160

Heatwave

While north Queensland is likely to get a drenching, much of the state is facing a heatwave over the coming three days, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Birdsville is forecast to reach 45 degrees on Thursday and 41 degrees on Friday. The outback town already broke Queensland's hottest temperature recorded this far into the autumn on Wednesday with its top of 43.5 degrees - a record that may last just one day.

Brisbane, meanwhile, is expecting 35 degrees on Thursday and 34 degrees on Friday, well above the average of 28 for March.

read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/cyclone-nathan-strengthens-with-hot-towers-as-it-heads-towards-queensland-coast-20150319-1m2lwp.html