Scientists warn of accelerated Arctic ice melting

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
9/10/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Ice caps decreasing, temperatures remain above freezing

Summer's record-breaking melt in the Arctic is part of an increasingly growing trend with profound implications, scientists warn. Adding to the alarming news is that Norwegian researchers report that the sea ice is becoming thinner and more vulnerable.

The latest data is still being processed by one of the institute's sea ice specialists, Dr. Sebastian Gerland, who says that though conditions vary year by year a pattern is clear.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Arctic region's floating ice last month reached the lowest level since satellite monitoring began, more than 30 years ago.

The ongoing melt is set to continue for at least another week, as the peak is typically reached in mid-September. Temperatures here remain above freezing.

The Norwegian Polar Institute's International Director Kim Holmen told the BBC that the speed of the melting was faster than expected.

"It is a greater change than we could even imagine 20 years ago, even 10 years ago," Dr Holmen said.

"And it has taken us by surprise and we must adjust our understanding of the system and we must adjust our science and we must adjust our feelings for the nature around us."

Lance, the institute's icebreaker has been deployed to research conditions between Svalbard and Greenland, the main route through which ice flows out of the Arctic Ocean.

Dr. Edmond Hansen, one of the leading scientists said he was "amazed" at the size and speed of this year's melt.

"As a scientist, I know that this is unprecedented in at least as much as 1,500 years. It is truly amazing - it is a huge dramatic change in the system," Dr. Hansen said.

"This is not some short-lived phenomenon - this is an ongoing trend. You lose more and more ice and it is accelerating - you can just look at the graphs, the observations, and you can see what's happening."

Dr. Hansen says Lance was docked at Norway's Arctic research station at Ny-Alesund on Svalbard.

Key data on the ice comes from satellites but also from measurements made by a range of different techniques.

The Norwegians also sent teams out on to the floating ice to drill holes into it and extract cores to determine the ice's origin.

By flying transects over the ice, a picture of the Arctic ice's thickness emerges. The latest data is still being processed by one of the institute's sea ice specialists, Dr. Sebastian Gerland, who says that though conditions vary year by year a pattern is clear.

"In the region where we work we can see a general trend to thinner ice - in the Fram Strait and at some coastal stations."

Dr. Gerland says that additional warming can take place even if ice remains in a far thinner state.

"It means there is more light penetrating through the ice - that depends to a high degree on the snow cover but once it has melted the light can get through," he said.

"If the ice is thinner there is more light penetrating and that light can heat the water."

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
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Keywords: Arctic, ice, melting, study, acceleration

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

NKOMEJIMANA JEAN BAPTISTE
8 months ago
Hello?Can you accept to help me in my university studies ?Because I'm a student where to study for me is very difficult.I have no father to give me school fees and generally I'm living more difficult.GOD HELP YOU ALL.I wait for your response.
Mark E
8 months ago
Readers probably ask "So what?"

Once enough heat (from sun warmed ocean water below or incoming sunlight above) converts any given pound of 32 degree ice to 32 degree water, odds are the same amount of energy is going to arrive at the same point in the arctic ocean. When that energy acts on liquid 32 degree water, it doesn't just raise the temp to 33 degrees.... it takes a lot of energy to "change phase" from ice to water... once its liquid that same amount of energy is enough to raise the temp of the melt water far very high.

Except it won't stay in the melt water. Instead, what used to be very cold arctic air will take up that energy, becoming unusually warm arctic air. It will: melt permafrst, releasing carbon stores; accelerate Greenland ice sheet melthing and thus speeding sea level rise; and it will turn the gently weaving low-amplitude waves we see each night on the news in the form of the jetstream so instead we will have very steep amplitude waves in the jetstream that won't pulse nearly so quickly.... what's that mean? That means that Mexico-like hot dry air will go much farther north on one side of the very large waves in the jet stream, while arctic-like wet cold air will come much farther south on the other side. So for example, all the agriculture we know that likes it more or less cold, like potatoes and maple syrup trees will be drought and heat stressed, and everything that likes it warm like oranges and rice will be regularly cold stressed. Walnut trees, which like a narrow window of soil moisture will struggle with swings of aridity and flooding. Anything growing close to the sea will suffer from salt water poisoning as salts move ever inland. Meanwhile, foodstuffs from the ocean will be collapsing from acidification.

In my opinion, several orders of magnitude of deaths will occur due to human-driven climate change than are ever performed in abortion clinics. Reducing greenhouse gases is the ultimate right-to-life issue, and I wish the Church would intensify its focus in accord with the recent report from the Pop's science academy,
Sue
8 months ago
There's a great website and new iphone app called Pole Watch which is being updated daily with satellite images of the ice melting at the North Pole www.northpolewatch.co.uk

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