Arctic Ice Shrinks to All-time Low, Could Disappear by 2030
Tuesday May 16, 2006
Arctic ice reached an all-time low in March 2006, according to new figures released by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), threatening wildlife and causing scientists to wonder if global warming has already reached the point of no return.
Satellite measurements for March show approximately 300,000 square kilometers less sea ice in the Arctic Ocean than at the same time last year. That’s an area bigger than the United Kingdom.
"It's a pretty stark drop,” said Dr. Walt Meier, a researcher at the center, as reported in The Guardian. “In the winter the ice tends to be pretty stable, so the last three years, with this steady decline, really stick out."
Typically, ice in the Arctic Ocean melts during the summer and refreezes over the winter, but for the past few years too little ice has frozen over the winter to compensate for the summer thaw. As a result, the amount of ice has been shrinking gradually, but the rate at which the ice is disappearing is now accelerating rapidly.
Scientists are worried that If the current cycle continues, all of the ice in the Arctic Ocean could melt permanently by 2030.
Large expanses of ice, like those usually found in the Arctic, reflect much of the sun’s heat and radiation back into the atmosphere, helping to regulate the surface temperature of the Earth. As the amount of ice shrinks, more of the sun’s heat reaches the ocean and the planet’s surface, melting even more ice and making it hard for the water to freeze again.
Does that mean we’ve reached the “tipping point” with global warming? Meier thinks it just might.
"People have tried to think of ways we could get back to where we were,” he said. “We keep going further and further into the hole, and it's getting harder and harder to get out of it."
More information:
Meltdown fear as Arctic ice cover falls to record winter low (The Guardian)
Winter Sea Ice Fails to Recover, Down to Record Low (NSIDC)
All About Sea Ice (NSIDC)
NSIDC Sea Ice Index
Satellite measurements for March show approximately 300,000 square kilometers less sea ice in the Arctic Ocean than at the same time last year. That’s an area bigger than the United Kingdom.
"It's a pretty stark drop,” said Dr. Walt Meier, a researcher at the center, as reported in The Guardian. “In the winter the ice tends to be pretty stable, so the last three years, with this steady decline, really stick out."
Typically, ice in the Arctic Ocean melts during the summer and refreezes over the winter, but for the past few years too little ice has frozen over the winter to compensate for the summer thaw. As a result, the amount of ice has been shrinking gradually, but the rate at which the ice is disappearing is now accelerating rapidly.
Scientists are worried that If the current cycle continues, all of the ice in the Arctic Ocean could melt permanently by 2030.
Large expanses of ice, like those usually found in the Arctic, reflect much of the sun’s heat and radiation back into the atmosphere, helping to regulate the surface temperature of the Earth. As the amount of ice shrinks, more of the sun’s heat reaches the ocean and the planet’s surface, melting even more ice and making it hard for the water to freeze again.
Does that mean we’ve reached the “tipping point” with global warming? Meier thinks it just might.
"People have tried to think of ways we could get back to where we were,” he said. “We keep going further and further into the hole, and it's getting harder and harder to get out of it."
More information:
Meltdown fear as Arctic ice cover falls to record winter low (The Guardian)
Winter Sea Ice Fails to Recover, Down to Record Low (NSIDC)
All About Sea Ice (NSIDC)
NSIDC Sea Ice Index
Comments
Larry-
How come everyone is running around like ‘chicken little’ concerning the melting of the glaciers when we’ve been warned since 1972 that this is what happens when the Earth goes through it’s Magnetic Pole Shift? Go to the library and take out the Nova Special produced by WGN- a great team out of Chicago. It was imminent that the Ozone layer was to be weakened during this phase that usually happens every 250,000 years but has waited 750,000 for this particular shift. If you are familiarize yourself with this process then you will find out that the Earth also turns on it’s axis by 1/4 clockwise to go into a recycling phase which most inhabitants of the planet… won’t live through.
Barb Heiam-Bjornsen Scottsdale, AZ
When the ice sheets and glaciers melt, it will result in an “albedo flip,” because that ice reflects 80% of the solar energy, while the ocean or ground beneath absorb 80% of the sunlight. Currently, our climate is in a sweetspot called the Holocene, where it is warm enough to prevent the formation of ice sheets on North America or Eurasia, but cool enough to keep ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. The Holocene has seen the rise of human civilization, because favorable agricultural conditions have lead to the formation of cities, technology, and larger populations. When those glaciers and ice sheets melt, we will return to a hotter dryer climate state that has resulted in mass extinctions.
When the ice sheets and glaciers melt, it will result in an “albedo flip,” because that ice reflects 80% of the solar energy, while the ocean or ground beneath absorb 80% of the sunlight. Currently, our climate is in a sweetspot called the Holocene, where it is warm enough to prevent the formation of ice sheets on North America or Eurasia, but cool enough to keep ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. The Holocene has seen the rise of human civilization, because favorable agricultural conditions have lead to the formation of cities, technology, and larger populations. When those glaciers and ice sheets melt, we will return to a hotter dryer climate state that has resulted in mass extinctions.
When the ice sheets and glaciers melt, it will result in an “albedo flip,” because that ice reflects 80% of the solar energy, while the ocean or ground beneath absorb 80% of the sunlight. Currently, our climate is in a sweetspot called the Holocene, where it is warm enough to prevent the formation of ice sheets on North America or Eurasia, but cool enough to keep ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. The Holocene has seen the rise of human civilization, because favorable agricultural conditions have lead to the formation of cities, technology, and larger populations. When those glaciers and ice sheets melt, we will return to a hotter dryer climate state that has resulted in mass extinctions many times in the past.