Numerous news sources, such as the BBC, are reporting the breakup of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica and blaming it (naturally) on global warming. That is simplistic and misleading. Consider these facts:

1. September-October 2007 set a record for the most sea ice ever recorded in the southern hemisphere (accurate satellite records go back to 1979). Did you read a story blaming this on global cooling?

2. Currently there are 1.25 million square kilometers of sea ice more than normal in the southern hemisphere. This was somehow not mentioned in the stories about the Wilkins Ice Shelf.

3. Ice shelves are on the ocean, but according to the latest data, globally the oceans aren’t warming.

4. Antarctica as a whole is not warming. There has been warming along the Antarctic Peninsula, where the Wilkins Ice Shelf is, but not on the continent as a whole. As a whole, over the last 50 years Antarctica has slightly cooled.

Somehow almost none of the stories I have read about the breakup of the ice shelf, such as the BBC‘s, Bloomberg‘s, Wired‘s, the AP‘s, the Washington Post‘s, or CNN‘s. The only news sources where I found the any mention of these facts is from Andy Revkin of the NY Times.

So what’s the evidence that this breakup is caused by global warming? If it’s global warming, then why is there more sea ice than normal? If It’s global warming, why aren’t the oceans warming? If it’s global warming, why isn’t Antarctica warming?