A U.S. scientist has found that the rapid disappearance of summer sea ice in the Arctic is sharply increasing temperatures in the region because the exposed ocean is absorbing large amounts of heat. Julienne Stroeve of the National Snow and Ice Data Center says that in the last four years, autumn air temperatures in Arctic regions that have lost significant amounts of sea ice have increased by 3 C (5.4 F) compared with long-term average temperatures. In some places, autumn air temperatures in the last four years have been 5 C (9 F) warmer than the 1979 to 2008 average. Stroeve’s findings, presented at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, confirm what climate scientists have long predicted — that the loss of Arctic sea ice would mean that solar radiation once reflected back into space by ice is now being absorbed by the dark surface of the ocean, significantly boosting air and sea temperatures. Warmer temperatures then lead to the loss of more ice, which in turn causes more warming, creating a feedback loop that amplifies warming. Stroeve called an ice-covered Arctic “the air conditioner of the Northern Hemisphere” and said ice loss could eventually affect global climate.
Loss of Arctic Sea IceAmplifies Regional Warming, Study Says
More From E360
-
INTERVIEW
How One South African Community Stopped Shell Oil in Its Tracks
-
ANALYSIS
Will New Leader End Progress in Saving Indonesia’s Forests?
-
Oceans
Dire Straits: Can a Fishing Ban Save the Elusive European Eel?
-
Climate
Scientists Are Trying to Coax the Ocean to Absorb More CO2
-
INTERVIEW
Marina Silva on Brazil’s Fight to Turn the Tide on Deforestation
-
Solutions
Solomon Islands Tribes Sell Carbon Credits, Not Their Trees
-
INTERVIEW
With Sea Turtles in Peril, a Call for New Strategies to Save Them
-
RIVERS
Jared Kushner Has Big Plans for Delta of Europe’s Last Wild River
-
Energy
A Nuclear Power Revival Is Sparking a Surge in Uranium Mining
-
OPINION
Despite Official Vote, the Evidence of the Anthropocene Is Clear
-
INTERVIEW
At 11,500 Feet, a ‘Climate Fast’ to Save the Melting Himalaya
-
Oceans
Octopuses Are Highly Intelligent. Should They Be Farmed for Food?