Science > Physics > New study shows Arctic ice coverage lowest-ever, decline accelerating
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Science > Physics |
| User: |
"Ray Lopez" |
| Date: |
04 Oct 2006 01:53:07 AM |
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New study shows Arctic ice coverage lowest-ever, decline accelerating |
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/10/03/1943187-cp.html
New study shows Arctic ice coverage lowest-ever, decline accelerating
By BOB WEBER
(CP) - The ocean area covered by Arctic sea ice last summer was as low as
it's ever been, according to a newly released study. And the rate of
melting gets faster every year, suggesting that a self-perpetuating
warming cycle predicted by climate change models is already at work, said
the data released by the main American centre for ice studies.
"Sea ice is not doing well and it has not recovered and it doesn't appear
that it is going to recover," said Mark Serreze of the National Snow and
Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colo.
Global warming is so far having its most dramatic effects in the North, so
Arctic sea ice is considered to be one of the most important indicators of
climate change.
The ice also plays an important role in global climate because it affects
the delicate balance of ocean salinity and temperature.
As well, it's crucial for everything from polar bears who depend on the
floe edge for much of their hunting to shippers on the lookout for more
efficient routes between ports.
Serreze's group uses data from satellites and weather stations to monitor
the Arctic ice cap. Every fall, around mid-September, the centre releases
a snapshot at the end of the summer melting season of what is called the
sea ice minimum.
This year's minimum, which occurred Sept. 14, showed the fourth-lowest
extent of sea ice on a single day in 29 years of satellite records.
When the entire month of September was considered, the amount of ocean
either ice-covered or ice-choked was the second lowest on record. Only
2005 was lower.
And when only ice-covered ocean was measured, 2006 tied the worst year
ever.
"We just ran the numbers this morning," Serreze said Tuesday. "It looks
like we're in a dead tie with 2002."
The study also found that the ice is melting faster than ever.
From 1979 to 2001, Arctic ice shrunk at the rate of 6.5 per cent per
decade. After 2002, that pace rose to 7.3 per cent.
By last year, the world was losing about eight per cent of its ice per
decade. Now, the speed is 8.6 per cent.
The accelerating rate conforms with what scientists call feedback loops.
Dark, open seas absorb the sunlight that white ice would have reflected,
so warming speeds up the more ice melts. As well, open seas generate more
cloud cover, blanketing the ocean during the long Arctic winter and
preventing temperatures from falling to normal levels.
"These feedbacks are starting to kick in," said Serreze. "I'm not terribly
optimistic about the future of the ice."
If current trends hold, Arctic ice will be largely gone by 2060 - a full
decade earlier than the most pessimistic previous predictions, he
suggested.
Most of the ice losses are concentrated off Russia's Siberian coast.
Winds and currents tend to push ice into Canada's High Arctic islands, so
coverage there is only shrinking at 1.6 per cent per a decade, said John
Falkingham, chief forecaster for the Canadian Ice Service.
"We expect that the last ice that will remain in the Arctic Ocean will be
in Canadian waters," Falkingham said. "The Northwest Passage will be the
last place the ice will melt out of."
While ice conditions can vary wildly from year to year, Falkingham said
the overall trend is clear.
"We're seeing decreasing amounts."
This September saw the second-lowest amount of ice in the Canadian Arctic,
he said. Only 1998 had less.
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| User: "raylopez99" |
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| Title: Re: New study shows Arctic ice coverage lowest-ever, decline accelerating |
04 Oct 2006 08:56:52 AM |
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These data, homo, are incomplete. That's why Euroland wanted to launch
the failed Cyrosat satellites--to actually photograph from the air the
ice coverage. And BTW, Antarctica had record COLD temperatures the
last few years. Brrrh, COLD! LOL.
RL
Ray Lopez wrote:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/10/03/1943187-cp.html
New study shows Arctic ice coverage lowest-ever, decline accelerating
By BOB WEBER
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| User: "Phil Hays" |
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| Title: Re: New study shows Arctic ice coverage lowest-ever, decline accelerating |
04 Oct 2006 10:42:30 AM |
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raylopez99 wrote:
These data, homo, are incomplete. That's why Euroland wanted to launch
the failed Cyrosat satellites--to actually photograph from the air the
ice coverage.
And the data will be complete when the summer ice cover is gone, right?
Right?? Oh well.
And BTW, Antarctica had record COLD temperatures the last few
years. Brrrh, COLD! LOL.
Amusing, isn't it. Antarctica is losing ice, and the South Pole station,
near the very center of Antarctica, has been setting both high and low
annual temperature records. The last two years seem to have been above
average. Looking at the graph, I'd say your source was written about 2000
or 2001. Update your sources, Ray.
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gistemp/gistemp_station.py?id=700890090008&data_set=1&num_neighbors=1
I wonder what the correlation between South Pole temperature and ozone
loss is. I would expect that there might be one, as ozone is a greenhouse
gas.
--
Phil Hays
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| User: "Orator" |
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| Title: Re: New study shows Arctic ice coverage lowest-ever, decline accelerating |
05 Oct 2006 03:05:03 AM |
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Phil Hays wrote:
raylopez99 wrote:
These data, homo, are incomplete. That's why Euroland wanted to launch
the failed Cyrosat satellites--to actually photograph from the air the
ice coverage.
And the data will be complete when the summer ice cover is gone, right?
Right?? Oh well.
And BTW, Antarctica had record COLD temperatures the last few
years. Brrrh, COLD! LOL.
Amusing, isn't it. Antarctica is losing ice, and the South Pole station,
near the very center of Antarctica, has been setting both high and low
annual temperature records. The last two years seem to have been above
average. Looking at the graph, I'd say your source was written about 2000
or 2001. Update your sources, Ray.
Update your own information. Ray is correct. I already reported on the
coldest Antarctic year (the last one) on record a week or two ago.
I wonder what the correlation between South Pole temperature and ozone
loss is. I would expect that there might be one, as ozone is a greenhouse
gas.
The cold cold cold atmosphere allows cirrostratus cloud formation up in
the stratosphere and this allows a chemical reaction destroying the ozone.
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