Antarctic warming

Much of Antarctica has warmed in recent decades, researchers report. To determine long-term climate trends for Antarctica, Eric Steig of the Universirty of Washington in Seattle and his colleagues blended meteorological data collected at forty-two weather stations since 1957 with satellite data gathered since 1982. Results show that a small region of East Antarctica cooled between 1957 and 2006, East Antarctica as a whole has increased in temperature by 0.1 degrees Celsius. In West Antarctica, the average temperature increases about 0.17 degrees C per decade during this period. Average temperature in the world has increased about 0.12 degrees Celsius per decade since 1957.

Analysis:

Was the article you selected an example of discovery science or hypothesis based science? Explain. The article I selected is an example of discovery science. This is because the article only presents findings about rising temperatures in the Antarctic, and globally.

What importance does the research or findings have for humans? The importance that the findings have for humans is that it not only informs us about how we have caused increases in temperatures globally and especially in Antarctica, but it helps us be aware of the issue and cause us to prevent matters from getting any worse.

Sid Perkins, Antarctic Warming, Science News, February 14, 2009,