Antarctic and Southern Ocean Sea-Ice and Climate Trends

A computer-based climate monitoring project is described. Data sets include monthly and annual mean surface temperatures and pressures for occupied stations in Antarctica, the Southern Ocean and South Pacific Ocean; and monthly Antarctic sea-ice extent at each 10° of longitude. Simple statistical analyses of the data sets reveal a mean warming of ~0.15°C (10 a) −1 since the mid 1950s for Antarctic coastal stations and of ~0.04°C (10 a) −1 since the mid 1940s for the ocean stations. The sea-ice record from 1973 to 1988 reveals that the average northern ice limit has decreased at ~0.23°lat. (10 a) −1 . Despite apparently compatible long-term trends of temperature and sea-ice extent, annual fluctuations of temperature and ice extent are highly variable and are not well correlated.