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Arctic ice is melting:
Over 30-year decline is accelerating, shows data
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Global warming having drastic effect on Arctic |
Make no mistake, Arctic Sea ice is melting. According to the National
Snow and Ice Data Center and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, the maximum extent of the winter sea ice cover for
2008-09 was the fifth-lowest on record. Underscoring their point, the
agencies added, “The six lowest maximum events since satellite
monitoring began in 1979 have all occurred in the past six years
(2004-09).”
Global warming is doing a number on Arctic Sea ice. The report noted
that the Arctic winter was 1.8 to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than
average. This and other factors are causing the surface ice to melt.
That ice is vital for reflecting the light and heat of the Sun. Without
it, the heat warms the Arctic Ocean, which then melts the ice below the
surface of the water.
This, along with older ice moving out of the Arctic, decreases the
thickness of sea ice cover, which then melts more easily in the Summer.
“Ice older than two years now accounts for less than 10 percent of the
ice cover,” according to the study.
“From 1981 through 2000, such older ice made up an average of 30
percent of the total sea ice cover at this time of the year.”
Courtesy: The Washington Post |
