page_title: Nordenskjöld Coast
section_title: Climate and climate change
hierarchical_section_title: Nordenskjöld Coast / Climate and climate change
caption_attribution_description: English: The ice shelves of the Antarctic peninsula.
context_page_description: The Nordenskjöld Coast is located on the Antarctic Peninsula, more specifically Graham Land, which is the top region of the Peninsula. The Peninsula is a thin, long ice sheet with an Alpine-style mountain chain. The coast consists of 15m tall ice cliffs with ice shelves.
  The Nordenskjöld Coast was discovered by Otto Nordenskjöld, a Swedish explorer and geographer, and Carl Anton Larsen, a Norwegian explorer and whaler, during the Swedish Antarctic Expedition in 1901–1904. The name was suggested by Edwin Swift Balch in 1909, who was part of the Antarctic Exhibition alongside Dr. Nordenskjöld.
  The Nordenskjöld coast extends 50 miles west-southwest from Cape Longing to Drygalski Bay and Cape Fareweather, with Oscar II Coast located to the south. The Nordenskjöld Coast faces the Weddell Sea at the top of the Antarctic continent. The thinness of the Antarctic Peninsula and its northerly location makes it prone to change due to global warming. The length and thickness of the ice sheet connected to the Nordenskjöld coast is monitored to track fluctuating climate patterns.
context_section_description: The climate of the Nordenskjöld Coast is an ice cap climate, which means that all 12 months of the year average a temperature below 0 °C. Along the Antarctic Peninsula over the past 50 years the mean temperature has increased by 3.4 degrees Celsius and the mid winter temperature by 6 degrees. This makes the Antarctic region one of the global hotspots for climate change.
  Due to the steep mountains that line the Antarctic Peninsula, the south-west winds are cold and strong. First noted in the Swedish Expedition in 1902, Otto Nordenskjöld found that these winds are present along the entire coast of the Peninsula. These strong, cold winds are due to the semi-permanent Weddell Sea pressure cell. The Weddell Sea is one of the coldest masses in the ocean. This tends to build up in this area due to the damming-up effect against the high slopes on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The coast experiences a barrier effect of winds in response to the mountains blocking its path. This effect means wind speed can accelerate to gale force. During the 1902 expedition they recorded speeds of hurricane force.
  The changes in ice shelf mass along the coast of the Peninsula, including the Nordenskjöld Coast, have been accelerated by the change in circumpolar currents. The warmer temperatures contributed to the disintegration of the ice sheet along the Antarctic Peninsula. The melting of the Larsen Ice Shelf has contributed to ocean mass; the Larsen A and B ice shelves that fell in 1995 and 2002 were of considerable mass.
  ThenNorthern area of the Antarctic Peninsula, including the Nordenskjöld Coast, Trinity Peninsula and the off-laying islands, are particularly vulnerable to varying climatic gradients. The Nordenskjöld Coast experiences low levels of rain, and yearly snowfall. Humidity can reach high levels, with temperatures above freezing.
  Permafrost (permanent frozen ground) and seasonal thaw-activity are the main indicators of climate change. There is a correlation between the mean annual temperatures of the arctic and the boundaries of permafrost on the Antarctic Peninsula, meaning that rising temperatures impact the mass of permafrost. Permafrost can survive if the mean annual temperature remains − 2.5 °C. Due to global warming, permafrost levels have become unstable, and there is a historic degradation of permafrost levels all over Antarctica.
caption: Overview of the Larsen ice caps on the Antarctic Peninsula
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