But one dry place is unlikely to see any flowers any time soon. The South Pole, with temperatures never going above -12 C, will remain covered in ice and snow. All that will happen to the South Pole due to the increase in precipitation is that its ice sheet will become thicker. Greenland too, with average annual temperatures well below freezing will see its ice sheet thicken.
For the South Pole and Greenland, a change in temperature of a few Kelvin one way or another will have no effect on their overall ice cover. What matters is the amount of precipitation, and the trend for global precipitation is up. Both the global warming and the global cooling camp agree on this. The future will be wetter than it is today.
What happens at the fringes is irrelevant when considering the world as a whole. Antarctica has seen its ice extent reach both a maximum and a minimum over the past couple of years. Dramatic changes at the edges mean nothing. It is the thickness of our planet's two major ice sheets that matter, and they are both growing. There will be no flooding of coastal areas. Precipitation is up, not down, and the trend is expected to continue.
All in all, the climate of our planet is improving fast. Who knows, we may even see the Sahara turn green again in the not too distant future.
By NASA/Michael Studinger - http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/multimedia/fall11/MarieByrdLand_DSC0872.html, Public Domain, Link
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