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Antarctic climate change and the environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2009

P. Convey*
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
R. Bindschadler
Affiliation:
Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
G. di Prisco
Affiliation:
Institute of Protein Biochemistry, National Research Council, Via Pietro Castellino 111, I-80131 Naples, Italy
E. Fahrbach
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
J. Gutt
Affiliation:
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
D.A. Hodgson
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
P.A. Mayewski
Affiliation:
Climate Change Institute, Sawyer Research Facility, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
C.P. Summerhayes
Affiliation:
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER, UK
J. Turner
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK

Abstract

The Antarctic climate system varies on timescales from orbital, through millennial to sub-annual, and is closely coupled to other parts of the global climate system. We review these variations from the perspective of the geological and glaciological records and the recent historical period from which we have instrumental data (∼the last 50 years). We consider their consequences for the biosphere, and show how the latest numerical models project changes into the future, taking into account human actions in the form of the release of greenhouse gases and chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere. In doing so, we provide an essential Southern Hemisphere companion to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.

Type
Review
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2009

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Footnotes

*

see Appendix 1

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