Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Arctic ice cap 'could go within 60 years'

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Arctic ice cap 'could go within 60 years'

    By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent



    THE Arctic ice cap could disappear completely well before the end of the century under the impact of global warming, according to observations released yesterday.
    Ice cover in the Arctic Ocean has, this month, shrunk to its lowest extent in more than a century, American scientists have found. If the shrinking trend continues at its present rate of 8 per cent a year, there could be no ice at all at the pole as early as the summer of 2060.



    The extent of Arctic sea ice varies naturally, but researchers from the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) and Nasa, who produced the new data, said that there are strong indications that human-induced global warming is at least partially responsible.

    “It’s still a controversial issue, and there’s always going to be some uncertainty because the climate system does have a lot of natural variability, especially in the Arctic,” said Mark Serreze, of NSIDC, who led the research, “but I think the evidence is growing very, very strong that part of what we’re seeing now is the increased greenhouse effect.”

    Sea ice cover in the Arctic, which does not boast a continental land mass like Antarctica, always shrinks to its lowest point in September, at the end of the northern hemisphere summer. For each of the past four years, satellite data has shown a substantial reduction in ice extent during this period.

    On September 21 the average size of the cap had dropped to 2.05 million square miles, the lowest in satellite records that stretch back to 1978. Less accurate records indicate that the latest low is unprecedented for more than a century. The current area covered by ice is 20 per cent less than the average from 1978 to 2000.

    “September 2005 will set a new record minimum in the amount of Arctic sea ice cover,” Dr Serreze said. “It’s the least sea ice we’ve seen in the satellite record, and continues a pattern of extreme low extents of sea ice which we’ve seen for the past four years.”

    Julienne Stroeve, one of his colleagues, said: “Considering the record low amounts of sea ice this year leading up to the month of September, 2005 will almost certainly surpass 2002 as the lowest amount of ice cover in more than a century.”

    The decline has the potential to create a feedback effect that accelerates global warming. Sea ice reflects much of the Sun’s heat back into space, while the ocean beneath absorbs it, so shrinking cover will raise temperatures still further.

    “Feedbacks in the system are starting to take hold,” Ted Scambos, of NSIDC, said. “These could change our estimate of the rate of decline of sea ice. Right now, our projections use a steady linear decline, but when feedbacks are involved the decline could pick up speed.”

    As sea ice is already floating, it does not raise global sea levels when it melts. Changes in its extent, however, can have a major effect on the habitats of species such as polar bears. “Polar bears must wait out the summer melt season on land, using their stored fat until they can return to the ice,” Roger Barry, head of NSIDC, said, “but if winter recovery and sea ice extent continue to decline, how will these beasts survive?”

    Average surface air temperatures in the Arctic are up to 3C higher than 50 years ago.

    Those pesky global warming theorists just keep on coming
    In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

    Leibniz

  • #2
    What about antartica continent's ice cap? And Himalayas? And Siberia?
    Hala Madrid!!

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by indianguy4u
      What about antartica continent's ice cap?
      Melting merrily

      Last Updated: Wednesday, 2 February, 2005, 11:28 GMT

      E-mail this to a friend Printable version

      Antarctic's ice 'melting faster'



      Guide to Climate Change
      Hunting climate evidence
      A team of UK researchers claims to have new evidence that global warming is melting the ice in Antarctica faster than had previously been thought.
      Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (Bas) say the rise in sea levels around the world caused by the melting may have been under-estimated.

      It is thought that over 13,000 sq km of sea ice in the Antarctic Peninsula has been lost over the last 50 years.

      The findings were announced at a Climate Change Conference in Exeter.

      Rising sea level

      Professor Chris Rapley, director of (Bas), told the conference that Antarctica could become a "giant awakened", contributing heavily to rising sea levels.

      Melting in the Antarctic Peninsula removes sea ice that once held back the movement of glaciers. As a result, glaciers flow into the ocean up to six times faster than before.

      The other region in the continent affected by the changes is West Antarctica, where warmer sea water is thought to be eroding the ice from underneath.

      In 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted the average global sea level would rise by between 11cm (4.3in) and 77cm (30.3in) by 2100 - but forecast that Antarctic's contribution would be small.

      Ice chunks

      Over the past five years, studies have found that melting Antarctic ice caps contribute at least 15% to the current global sea level rise of 2mm (0.08in) a year.

      It is not known whether the melting is the result of a natural event or the result of global warming.

      Professor Rapley said that if this was natural variability, it might be expected to be taking place in only a handful of places. However, studies had shown that it was happening in all three major ice streams in West Antarctica, he added.

      Several major sections of Antarctic ice have broken off in the past decade.

      The Larsen A ice shelf, which measured 1,600 sq km, broke off in 1995. The 1,100 sq km Wilkins ice shelf fell off in 1998 and the 13,500 sq km Larsen B dropped away in 2002.

      FROM HERE
      In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

      Leibniz

      Comment


      • #4
        Warming hits 'tipping point'

        Siberia feels the heat It's a frozen peat bog the size of France and Germany combined, contains billions of tonnes of greenhouse gas and, for the first time since the ice age, it is melting

        Ian Sample, science correspondent
        Thursday August 11, 2005
        The Guardian

        A vast expanse of western Sibera is undergoing an unprecedented thaw that could dramatically increase the rate of global warming, climate scientists warn today.
        Researchers who have recently returned from the region found that an area of permafrost spanning a million square kilometres - the size of France and Germany combined - has started to melt for the first time since it formed 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age.
        MORE HERE
        In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

        Leibniz

        Comment


        • #5
          Why the hell they arent blaiming global warming forcefully. Thats the biggest contributor for all unnatural changes in weather paterns all over the world.
          Hala Madrid!!

          Comment


          • #6
            Previous reports had indicated that it could take another century to melt the polar ice, this is a chilling news [in 60yrs].
            Hala Madrid!!

            Comment


            • #7
              Himalayan glaciers 'melting fast'

              The world's highest mountains hide vast glaciers
              Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people, the conservation group WWF has claimed.
              In a report, the WWF says India, China and Nepal could experience floods followed by droughts in coming decades.

              The Himalayas contain the largest store of water outside the polar ice caps, and feed seven great Asian rivers.

              The group says immediate action against climate change could slow the rate of melting, which is increasing annually.

              "The rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers will first increase the volume of water in rivers, causing widespread flooding," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the WWF's Global Climate Change Programme.

              "But in a few decades this situation will change and the water level in rivers will decline, meaning massive eco and environmental problems for people in western China, Nepal and northern India."

              'Catastrophe'

              The glaciers, which regulate the water supply to the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Thanlwin, Yangtze and Yellow rivers are believed to be retreating at a rate of about 10-15m (33-49ft) each year.

              The world faces an economic and development catastrophe if the rate of global warming isn't reduced

              Jennifer Morgan, WWF
              Hundreds of millions of people throughout China and the Indian subcontinent - most of whom live far from the Himalayas - rely on water supplied from these rivers.

              Many live on flood plains highly vulnerable to raised water levels.

              And vast numbers of farmers rely on regular irrigation to grow their crops successfully.

              The WWF said the potential for disaster in the region should serve to focus the minds of ministers of 20 leading industrialised nations gathering in London for two meetings on climate change.

              "Ministers should realise now that the world faces an economic and development catastrophe if the rate of global warming isn't reduced," Ms Morgan said.

              Temperatures rising

              She added that a study commissioned for the WWF indicated that the temperature of the Earth could rise by two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in a little over 20 years.


              Farmers in rural China are dependent on regular irrigation
              Allowing global temperatures to rise that far would be "truly dangerous", Ms Morgan said.

              Nepal, China and India are already showing signs of climate change, the WWF report claims.

              Nepal's annual average temperature has risen by 0.06 degrees Celsius, and three snow-fed rivers have shown signs of reduced flows.

              Water level in China's Qinghai Plateau wetlands has affected lakes, rivers and swamps, while India's Gangotri glacier is receding by 23m (75ft) each year.

              FROM HERE
              In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

              Leibniz

              Comment


              • #8
                Hey parihaka, what about kiwi snowclad mountain ranges?
                Hala Madrid!!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by indianguy4u
                  Why the hell they arent blaiming global warming forcefully. Thats the biggest contributor for all unnatural changes in weather paterns all over the world.
                  The big counter-argument, mostly propagated from the States, is that these are naturally occuring events, and nothing to do with CO2 emissions. A simple test is to find out who has the most to loose if the global warming theory is correct, and see how opposed they are to that theory.
                  In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                  Leibniz

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by parihaka
                    The big counter-argument, mostly propagated from the States, is that these are naturally occuring events, and nothing to do with CO2 emissions. A simple test is to find out who has the most to loose if the global warming theory is correct, and see how opposed they are to that theory.
                    Leader would deny all that u see .
                    Hala Madrid!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by indianguy4u
                      Hey parihaka, what about kiwi snowclad mountain ranges?
                      Poorer snow cover in the colder South Island = crap skiing The winter we're just coming out of was no winter at all. Glaciers all retreating, The skifield where I learnt to ski has had no snow cover for the last 4 years
                      In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                      Leibniz

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by indianguy4u
                        Leader would deny all that u see .
                        As will Dalem
                        In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                        Leibniz

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by indianguy4u
                          Hey parihaka, what about kiwi snowclad mountain ranges?
                          Probably a silly question but do you have any skifields in India?
                          In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                          Leibniz

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by parihaka
                            Poorer snow cover in the colder South Island = crap skiing The winter we're just coming out of was no winter at all. Glaciers all retreating, The skifield where I learnt to ski has had no snow cover for the last 4 years
                            Even in India, Shimla was summer retreat of British officers of British India times used to be cool place & snowed every year. But for last decade or so its snowed very infrequently.
                            Hala Madrid!!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by parihaka
                              Probably a silly question but do you have any skifields in India?
                              Its not very well developed but yes we have few in Himachal Pradesh & J&K & Some in Uttaranchal state of Northern India.
                              Hala Madrid!!

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X