Researcher says Antarctic ice pack growing

Earlier this week, temperatures in the Inland Northwest plunged to approximately 20 degrees below normal.

Record snows were also the result of this unusually cold weather pattern. At Spokane International Airport, total snowfall as of Tuesday morning was at 91.9 inches. The all-time record snowfall year for Spokane occurred in 1949-‘50 with 93.5 inches. Many stations in North Idaho smashed all-time snowfall records earlier this year.

This prolonged snowfall season may be the result of the lower sunspot activity and the cooler than normal sea-surface temperature event, La Niña. As mentioned in previous articles, global temperatures have cooled to near the 20th century mean early this year. Despite the drop in the Earth’s temperature, the media continues to issue many reports that relate to global warming.

In late March, the breaking of the Wilkins ice sheet, the size of Rhode Island, in western Antarctica received national headlines.

However, some scientists have stated that the ice loss of the shattered portion of the Wilkins ice sheet in western Antarctica was just “a mere .01 percent of the current Antarctic ice cover,” according to former Weather Channel meteorologist Joe D’Aleo. “We are very likely going to exceed last year’s record (for Southern Hemisphere ice extent). Yet, the world is left with the false impression Antarctica’s ice sheet is also starting to disappear.”

Climate researcher Paul Berensen said, “The total ice pack in Antarctica has grown to all-time record levels since satellite monitoring began in the 1970s. The vast majority of the continent has cooled in the past 50 years.”

Climate scientist Ben Herman, past director of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics and former head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Arizona, stated, “It is interesting that all of the AGW (anthropogenic global warming) stories concerning Antarctica are always about what’s happening around the western peninsula, which seems to be the only place on Antarctica that has shown warming. How about the net no change or cooling over the rest of the continent, which is probably about 95 percent of the land mass, not to mention the record sea ice coverage recently.”

I still believe we’re in the worst cycle of extremes in more than 1,000 years. A recent example was the unusually warm weekend (April 12 and 13) followed by a 40-degree drop in temperature on Monday with some areas reporting snow that afternoon. While the northwestern U.S. was shivering in the cold, a record warmth was reported near the shores of the eastern Great Lakes last week.

Antarctica is no exception to the extremes. While the eastern portion of the continent reports the expansion of ice, the western side seems to be warmer. But, it’s also possible that the ice break in late March may have been due to underwater volcanic activity. Numerous active under-sea hydrothermal vents and volcanoes are being discovered. The most recent was a very large volcano off the southwestern coast of Iceland in early April that was expected to erupt at any moment.

Whether our planet continues to cool down or warm up still remains to be seen. Regardless, it’s going to be a wild ride.

As far as our weather picture is concerned, after a brief warm-up, the first three weeks of the month of May should be the wettest period of the entire spring season. The rest of spring is expected to be generally cooler and wetter than normal with sun and showers.