the freezer defrosts
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WILDLIFE NOW!
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THE FREEZER
DEFROSTS
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WILDLIFE NOW!
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Dramatic melting of sea ice due to global warming is having a major impact on the polar regionJohn Vidal
Arctic sea ice is set to reach its lowest ever recorded extent as early as this weekend, in “dramatic changes” signalling that man-made global warming is having a major impact on the
polar region.
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With the melt happening at
an unprecedented rate of more than
100,000 sq km a day, and at least a
week of further melt expected before
ice begins to reform ahead of the
northern winter, satellites are expect-
ed to confirm the record – currently
set in 2007 – within days.
“Unless something really un-
usual happens we will see the record
broken in the next few days. It might
happen this weekend, almost cer-
tainly next week,” Julienne Stroeve, a
scientist at the US National Snow and
Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in Boulder,
Colorado, told the Guardian.
“In the last few days it has been losing
100,000 sq km a day, a record in
itself for August. A storm has spread
the ice pack out, opening up water,
bringing up warmer water. Things are
definitely changing quickly.”
Because ice thickness, vol-
ume, extent and area are all measured
differently, it may be a week before
there is unanimous agreement among
the world’s cryologists (ice experts)
that 2012 is a record year. Four out of
the nine daily sea ice extent and area
graphs kept by scientists in the US,
Europe and Asia suggest that records
have already been broken. “The
whole energy balance of the Arctic is
changing. There’s more heat up there.
There’s been a change of climate and
we are losing more seasonal ice. The
rate of ice loss is faster than the mod-
els can capture [but] we can expect
the Arctic to be ice-free in summer by
2050,” said Stroeve.
“Only 15 years ago I didn’t expect to
see such dramatic changes – no one
did. The ice-free season is far longer
now. The difference between the rate
of warming at the two poles is at-
tributed to geographical differences.
“Antarctica is a continent surrounded
by water, while the Arctic is an ocean
surrounded by land. Wind and ocean
currents around Antarctica isolate
the continent from global weather
patterns, keeping it cold. In contrast,
the Arctic Ocean is intimately linked
with the climate systems around it,
making it more sensitive to changes
in climate,” said a spokesman for the
NSIDC.
After setting out from
northern Norway last week to witness
this year’s record sea melt in the
Arctic, we reached the edge of the
Arctic polar ice cap this morning. It’s
far further north than expected, at
around 82 degrees N, but the annual
sea ice retreat here has been nowhere
near as great as on the Alaskan side of
the ice cap, where it has dramatically
pulled back hundreds of miles further
than usual.
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WILDLIFE NOW!oooooooooo
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The consequences of losing the
Arctic’s ice coverage for the summer
months are expected to be immense.
If the white sea ice no longer reflects
sunlight back into space, the region
can be expected to heat up even more
than at present. This could lead to an
increase in ocean temperatures with
unknown effects on weather systems
in northern latitudes.
In a statement, a Greenpeace spokes-
man said: “The disappearing Arctic
still serves as a stark warning to us
all. Data shows us that the frozen
north is teetering on the brink. The
level of ice ‘has remained far below
average’ and appears to be getting
thinner, leaving it more vulnerable to
future melting. The consequences of
further rapid ice loss at the top of the
world are of profound importance to
the whole planet. This is not a warn-
ing we can afford to ignore.”
“Every one of the 56,000
Inuits in Greenland have
had to adapt to the retreat
of the ice,”