Nothing unexpected here, but it's current (I think); proof of nothing, just an fyi. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.rss.html?pid=22648"A team of NASA and university scientists has found clear evidence that extensive areas of snow melted in west Antarctica in January 2005 in response to warm temperatures. This was the first widespread Antarctic melting ever detected with NASA's QuikScat satellite and the most significant melt observed using satellites during the past three decades. Combined, the affected regions encompassed an area as big as California.
The observed melting occurred in multiple distinct regions, including far inland, at high latitudes and at high elevations, where melt had been considered unlikely. Evidence of melting was found up to 900 kilometers (560 miles) inland from the open ocean...."
QuikScat can differentiate this icy fingerprint in the snow cover and can map on a continental scale the extent of strong snowmelt and the subsequently formed ice layer. Available ground station measurements validate the satellite results.
Large amounts of Antarctic freshwater flowing into the ocean also could affect ocean salinity, currents and global climate.
The study, "Snow Accumulation and Snowmelt Monitoring in Greenland and Antarctica," appears in the recently published book "Dynamic Planet."
For more information on QuikScat, visit:
http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov .