Arctic summer sea ice could be gone by as early as 2035 - National Geographic

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Last month, less sea ice covered the Arctic Ocean than in any other July since scientists began keeping track of it with satellites in 1979, marking another step toward a devastating and planet-reshaping inevitability: an ice-free summer for the Arctic Ocean.Each year, Arctic sea ice expands as the sea surface freezes during the long, dark winter. At its maximum in March, the ice covers nearly the entire Arctic Ocean, almost 6 million square miles. It melts back during summer, reaching its lowest point in September. In July during the 1980s, the ice covered an average of about 3.8 million square miles, roughly the area of the U.S. or Canada.This July, sea ice covered only about 2.8 million square miles. Since 1979, Arctic sea ice has declined by an average of 27,000 square miles a year, an area the size of North Dakota that melts each year and doesn’t grow back. Area of Arctic sea ice in2020 nears record lowIn July of 2020, the area covered by sea ice in the Arctic Ocean reached a new low for the month. With record warming caused by human activity, the Northern Sea Route became ice-free earlier than previously recorded. At the end of July, Canada’s last intact ice-shelf collapsed.Arctic sea ice extentMillions of square milesAll yearssince 1979652020432Aug. 101Record low (2012)0Jan.AprilJulyOctDec.Sea ice concentration0%15%100%Median Aug. 10sea ice extent(1981-2010)ARCTIC OCEANNorthernSea RouteARCTIC OCEANAug. 10, 2020sea iceextentNORTH POLEUtqiaġvik(Barrow)Milne Ice Shelf(collapsed)EXTENT IS DEFINED AS OCEAN WITH AT LEAST WITH 15%SEA ICE. concentration IS inferred for North Pole. Riley D. Champine, NG STAFF. Source: NSIDCArea of Arctic sea ice in2020 nears record lowArctic sea ice extent(millions of square miles)6All yearssince 19795In July of 2020, the area covered by sea ice in the Arctic Ocean reached a new low for the month. With record warming caused by human activity, the Northern Sea Route became ice-free earlier than previously recorded. At the end of July, Canada’s last intact ice-shelf collapsed.2020432Aug. 101Record low (2012)0Jan.MarchMayJulySept.Nov.Sea ice concentrationEXTENT IS DEFINED AS OCEANWITH AT LEAST WITH 15% SEA ICE.0%15%100%RUSSIAMedian Aug. 10sea ice extent(1981-2010)FINLANDARCTIC OCEANSWEDENAug. 10, 2020sea iceextentNORWAYNORTH POLEUtqiaġvik(Barrow)ALASKA(U.S)Milne Ice Shelf(collapsed)ICELANDGREENLAND(DENMARK)CANADASea ice concentrationIS inferred for North Pole.Riley D. Champine, NG STAFF. Source: NSIDC A study published this week in Nature Climate Change strongly reinforces predictions that summers in the northernmost sea are likely to lose their ice cover entirely by 2035—around the time a toddler today will graduate from high school.“This is pointing to something we know is happening very quickly, and now we know we have to be ready for it [sooner than we might have thought],” says Maria Vittoria Guarino, the lead author of the paper and a climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey.A center of warming The Link Lonk


August 13, 2020 at 07:29PM
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Arctic summer sea ice could be gone by as early as 2035 - National Geographic

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