New USGS data has discovered the southern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula is “retreating”. Science Daily reports:
Research by the U.S. Geological Survey is the first to document that every ice front in the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula has been retreating overall from 1947 to 2009, with the most dramatic changes occurring since 1990. The USGS previously documented that the majority of ice fronts on the entire Peninsula have also retreated during the late 20th century and into the early 21st century.
This area is “rapidly changing”. It is farthest from the South Pole; however, the southern portion has the coolest temperatures and “may be a forecast of changes in other parts of Antarctica and the world if warming continues”.