Green Options

A plethora of corroborative data shows that this year’s sea ice levels in the Arctic are the lowest seen in 800 years.

The new research, published in the journal Climate Dynamics, doesn’t specify a cause or reason for the retreat, but it does note that if sea ice melt continues at this level, it’s likely that the North Pole will be completely ice-free during the summer months within a few decades.

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the second-lowest extent recorded since the dawn of the satellite era.

While above the record minimum Arctic sea ice extent set on September 16, 2007, this year further reinforces the strong negative trend in summertime ice extent observed over the past thirty years.

Despite overall cooler summer temperatures, the 2008 minimum extent is only 390,000 square kilometers (150,000 square miles), or 9.4%, more than the record-setting 2007 minimum. The 2008 minimum extent is 15.0% less than the next-lowest minimum extent set in 2005 and 33.1% less than the average minimum extent from 1979 to 2000.

This season further reinforces the long-term downward trend of sea ice extent.

Even though the sea ice didn’t retreat this year as much as last summer, “there was no real sign of recovery,” said Walt Meier of NSIDC. This year was cooler and other weather conditions weren’t as bad, he said.

“We’re kind of in a new state of the Arctic basically, and it’s not a good one,” Meier said. “We’re definitely sliding towards a point where the summer sea ice will be gone.”

By now, we’ve been well taught to view the steady decrease of Arctic ice as a bad thing; and for good reason, it is. But by now, I also hope that I have been able to teach you that, when dealing with the climate, nothing is simple. If that lesson has managed to make it through, then this latest piece of “good” news is going to be very interesting.

According to two separate research groups, new evidence supports the possibility that the disappearing Arctic ice is a good thing for the planet.

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC),

Following a record rate of ice loss through the month of August, Arctic sea ice extent already stands as the second-lowest on record, further reinforcing conclusions that the Arctic sea ice cover is in a long-term state of decline. With approximately two weeks left in the melt season, the possibility of setting a new record annual minimum in September remains open.

A record was set for Arctic sea ice melt in 2007.  Much was made of the sea ice “recovery” over the ensuing winter of 2007/2008.  However, while the Arctic sea ice returned to an extent similar to that of the winter prior to the record melt, much of the new ice was very thin.  Thus even though 2008 has been a cooler year than 2007 (partially due to a strong La Nina cycle), the new, thinner ice has proven to be more susceptible to melting, as the graphic following the jump illustrates.

For the first time in recorded human history, the Arctic has become an island to itself, completely separate from the landmasses that the Arctic ice normally stretches out onto. This distressingly historic event has been captured by NASA satellites, depicting both the Northwest and Northeast passages as ice free.

For the past few years we have seen the Arctic ice sheet melt, dropping to lower and lower levels. And though we haven’t seen the 2008 melt season drop below 07’s record numbers, the ice has melted in such a way that now the Arctic has become an island.

Fears about the Arctic melting away during northern summers are proving to be far from unfounded, with the latest reports rolling in from Alaska and Greenland showing disturbing trends. New shipping lanes are opening up through what were once icy seas near Alaska, and glaciers that have so far withstood much of what the environment has thrown at them in Greenland, are showing signs of breaking… literally.

Researchers who have been monitoring daily satellite images of Greenland’s glaciers from Ohio State University have discovered break-ups at two of the largest glaciers within the last month.

Over the past 12 months there has been one big fear lingering over the environmental community. It was a year ago that we were watching the Arctic ice disappearing at a tremendous rate, and saw it slip to its lowest levels in recorded history. Subsequently, we also saw the complete opening of the Northwest Passage for the first time in recorded history.

With the dawn of 2008’s northern summer, fears were that that minimum level of ice would once again be broken. However according to experts, no new records will be broken this year.

At a time when renewed focus is being shone on the Arctic and its ice-levels, the Canadian Military has made a disturbing discovery; a discovery that, too many, is continued evidence of the shocking break-up of the Arctic ice-cap.

The Canadian military recently made what it called a “sovereignty patrol” of its Arctic territory. Joined by scientists, they found major new fractures far in to Canada’s claimed Arctic region. The team found a network of cracks that stretch for more than 10 miles on Ward Hunt, the region’s largest ice-shelf.

“When you look in detail at the science behind the recent Arctic changes it becomes painfully clear how our understanding of climate impacts lags behind the changes that we are already seeing in the Arctic,” warned Martin Sommerkorn, one of the authors of a new report from conservation group the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

This report adds weight to a growing number of reports and findings that are pointing to 2008’s summer as a turning point for the Arctic region; one where there could be no sea-ice at all.

The Arctic ice has been at the center of environmental concern for a long time now. Ever since its ever-increasing decline in size came to a peak last year with the exposure of the fabled Northwest Passage, it has been the focus of scientific study and environmental bickering.

Traditionally March marks the time of year when the Arctic ice is at its highest extent after the Northern Hemisphere’s winter comes to a close. For 40 years NASA satellites have tracked the ice coverage of both Arctic and Antarctic.

So with March half way gone, what is the Arctic looking like?

Almost every day I find yet another story alerting the world to the fact that the Arctic didn’t fair too well this past northern summer. Now, I’m relatively certain we’ve all got the idea. And trust me, I’m a huge supporter of needing to make such a piece of information known; but even I’ve got a limit to when I’ll keep pouring it down our throats.

Today is not a day

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