New research explains why Antarctica froze 25 million years before the Arctic
This article explains two interlinked scientific mysteries about polar ice formation: why Antarctica became covered in ice around 34 million years ago (during the Eocene-Oligocene transition) while the Arctic remained largely ice-free for another 25 million years. It presents new research that reveals how falling carbon dioxide levels and changing ocean currents (specifically the opening of the Drake Passage and the development of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current) combined to trigger Antarctic glaciation, while the Arctic's different geography and ocean circulation patterns delayed its freezing. The research solves long-standing puzzles about the asymmetric development of ice sheets at Earth's poles.
Key quotes
East Antarctica hosts the largest ice sheet on Earth, containing enough water to raise global sea levels by 52 metres, were it to fully melt.
Antarctica became covered in ice around 34 million years ago – a period known as the Eocene-Oligocene transition – while the Arctic region stayed largely ice-free for another 25 million years or so.
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were falling dramatically at the time, and played an important role in falling te
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