GRL - Old Arctic Ice Melting Rate Twice That Of Other Arctic Ice; Stunning 4-Year Ice Graphic

[hatrack]

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New research finds the Arctic’s oldest and thickest ice is more mobile and is vanishing twice as fast as ice in the rest of the Arctic. The new study in AGU’s journal Geophysical Research Letters finds ice in the Arctic Ocean north of Greenland is more mobile than previously thought, as ocean currents and atmospheric winds are likely transporting the old, thick ice found there to other parts of the Arctic. As a result, ice mass in the area – the last place researchers think will lose its year-round ice cover – is declining twice as fast as ice in the rest of the Arctic, according to the new findings. This visualization, posted on 11 November 2019, shows the age of the Arctic sea ice between 1984 and 2019. Younger sea ice, or first-year ice, is shown in a dark shade of blue while the ice that is four years old or older is shown as white. A graph displayed in the upper left corner quantifies the area covered by sea ice four or more years old in millions of square kilometers. Video: NASA

EDIT

Scientists from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) have released a time-lapse video showing the ocean’s ice forming and receding over the past 35 years.


Graph showing Arctic sea ice cover, 1979-2019. Data: NOAA. Graphic: Statista

The region – which covers a 2,000 km arc from the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago to the northern coast of Greenland – will be the last to lose its perennial ice cover, climate models suggest. It could form an important refuge for species dependent on ice for their survival, ranging from tiny algae to mammals at the top of the food chain, such as polar bears.

But sea ice cover here is melting twice as fast as other places in the Arctic Ocean. An AGU study found as the region’s oldest, thickest ice disappears, it is being replaced by thinner, less stable ice that melts more easily. The thickness of Arctic sea ice varies from year to year due to differing weather conditions, but reaches its maximum annual extent in March. Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded a significant decrease over time in both the extent of ice cover and its thickness. In the 1980s, average March sea ice was more than 15.5 million square kilometres, but in recent years the average is closer to 14 million square kilometres.

A similar pattern is seen in the Antarctic, which has lost around a sixth of its ice cover since 2014. The region has lost as much sea ice in the past four years as the Arctic lost in the past 34 years.


Graph showing average annual extent of Antarctic sea ice, 1979-2018. Antarctica saw a huge decline in sea ice since 2014. Data: Parkinson, PNAS, 2019. Graphic: Statista

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https://desdemonadespair.net/2019/12/35-years-of-climate-change-in-one-video.html

[Javaman]

1. well hell, that was sobering.

the soon to be ice-less planet.

[MLAA]

2. Soon to be life-less planet.

[Javaman]

5. yeah...

[Canoe52]

6. Life will rebound just fine...after us humans are gone.

Mankind on the earth has been like locusts in a farmers field, devouring everything in sight, leaving nothing behind but waste and destruction.

[MLAA]

7. Exactly!

We are an awful species overall and deserve what we have coming.

[StarryNite]

3. Frightening

[pecosbob]

4. Mother Earth...

So long, it's been good to know ya
So long it's been good to know ya
So long, it's been good to know ya
This dusty old dust is a-gettin' my home
And I got to be driftin' along.

[NickB79]

8. I have a hunch we'll see a Blue Ocean Event in 5 years

After which it's all downhill, fast, for the planet's climate stability.