Ice, Precip, Seasons, Size

Ice 

• 90% of the world's ice is there.  (70% of world's fresh water.)
• 98% of Antarctic continent is covered in ice. Ice's thickness averages over a mile! 
• If just this continent's ice melted, it is believed sea levels would rise about 200 feet. (20 stories.  Almost the height of my office building...)

Precipitation
Considered a desert. 8 inches inches (annually) along the coasts.  Much less inland.  (For comparison, Virginia's is 43 inches annually, and Massachusetts is 45 inches.)

Seasons

• Opposite of northern hemisphere.  Winter is March through September.
• Average temp for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −81 °F. 

Size

Antarctica is 5.4 million square miles.  (Europe is 3.9, and the USA is 3.8). 

McMurdo (where my cousin Megan worked 3 times) is 2,500 miles (!) from where I will be.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zMG1dPhxFNHk.kLxYrg4saVTg

Warming, Disappearing

• In the past 20 years, seven ice shelves along the peninsula have retreated or disintegrated. 

• Since 1995, three quarters of the Larsen Ice Shelf, located of the northeastern coast, have disappeared in a series of rapid calving disintegrations. In 2002, 1255 square miles of the Larsen Ice Shelf calved in a matter of weeks. 

• In March 2008, the Wilkins Ice Sheet, located off the southwestern coast of the peninsula, lost more than 160 square miles to a sudden massive calving event.

Gaining
Other parts of Antarctica are gaining ice. Some use that to refute climate change; but it's important to look at the larger picture.  Include what is going on in the Arctic, and across the globe.  And remember, we are still studying, testing and peer reviewing our findings. There is STILL so much yet to be discovered and understood!  

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Link to next blog post:  History, Those Before Us