Community | August 11, 2008 | 38 comments

'Unprecedented' melt sinks hope for Arctic ice recovery

source: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=a6475b46-616e-4003-84d7-f8e4e9a18060

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jefftego
The Arctic Ocean ice cover, which appeared earlier this summer to be headed for a moderate recovery after last year's record-setting retreat, has begun disintegrating so rapidly in recent weeks that experts now say the ice loss by mid-September could exceed even 2007's history-making meltdown.

The Canadian Ice Service is reporting an "unprecedented" opening of waters in the Beaufort Sea north of the Yukon-Alaska border, where expected increases in ship traffic have just prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to establish two new outposts on Alaska's north coast to strengthen its vessel-monitoring and search-and-rescue capabilities.

Last year, 14 million square kilometres of Arctic Ocean ice shrank to just over four million between March and September. The minimum is typically reached in mid-September.

It's now a "neck-and-neck race between 2007 and this year over the issue of ice loss," Mark Serreze, a senior climate researcher at the U.S. ice data centre told Britian's Guardian newspaper yesterday. "We thought Arctic ice cover might recover after last year's unprecedented melting -- and indeed the picture didn't look too bad last month."

But recent storms in the Beaufort region "triggered steep ice losses," he said, "and it now looks as if it will be a very close call indeed whether 2007 or 2008 is the worst year on record for ice cover over the Arctic."

The Canadian government's chief observers of Arctic ice conditions are expressing amazement at the state of the Beaufort Sea.

"We've never seen any kind of opening like this in history," senior ice forecaster Luc Desjardins said of the Beaufort's exceptional loss of ice this summer. "It is not only record-setting, it's unprecedented. It doesn't resemble anything that we've observed before."

Last year's record melt is chiefly responsible for this year's accelerating retreat of sea ice. So much of the thicker, multi-year ice in the Arctic was lost in 2007 that -- despite a relatively cold winter -- much more of the polar cap at the start of this year's melt season consisted of thinner, weaker first-year ice that didn't stand a chance of surviving the summer.

"It takes less solar energy to dissipate and melt that ice," says Mr. Desjardins. "So we potentially could reach a new minimum. Time will tell if we are going to be approaching the 2007 sea-ice retreat -- there still five weeks (of melting) to go."





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38 comments // 'Unprecedented' melt sinks hope for Arctic ice recovery

  • frimer
    • 0
      frimer  

    • You are all in for a big surprise soon...
      So many of you will feel so stupid...for believing all this crap.
      The true FACTS are coming to light more and more every day..
      GLOBAL WARMING?? I hope you have warm cloathes in years to come..its not water you should be worried about but the cold thats coming your way...i´m not even going to bother AGAIN pointing out the facts...do your own research...

    • 3 years ago
  • jeffreyak
  • regularrf
  • Wetdog
    • 0
      Wetdog  
    • regularrf:

      No we cann't---at least we cann't fight nature very long and hope to win. The best we do is make it to a draw----until nature gets tired of it and decides to smack us back in our place.

    • 3 years ago
  • Angel4truth
    • 0
      Angel4truth  
    • regularrf:

      I am relieved that someone else is reading up on this... and realizes it's the sun!

      The ice is high in the winter and lower in the summer due to ......
      SOLAR CYCLES of the sun.
      It is entering a different phase.

      We cannot control the sun.

      Global warming is being used to make us fear and clean the earth, which should be done anyhow. But the lie is freaking insane.

    • 3 years ago
  • stephenthomson
  • frimer
    • 0
      frimer  
    • regularrf:

      stephenthomson i think you are the one that needs to educate yourself...The IPPC? lol you make me laugh!! go back to school and learn something.Or if care to look at some of my post maybe we will not feel so dumb in a few years...when "new" science FACTS are released...

    • 3 years ago
  • stephenthomson
  • MeganMcKenzie
    • 0
      MeganMcKenzie  

    • I am reading, "Hell and High Water," and it clearly outlines what the world is facing. The author, Joseph Romm states, "We have ten years at most, to start making sharp cuts to our greenhouse gas emissions or we will face catastrophic consequences."

      We cannot afford to waste another minute. I am angry with Congress about the tax credits for renewables not going through. We cannot afford to elect one more politician who is more concerned with filling her/his pockets than taking action.

    • 3 years ago
  • senorinanina
    • 0
      senorinanina  

    • You can go to the beach and literally see how much less sand there is than last year...how much farther in the water has come. The water is rising and we WILL see dramatic changes in our lifetime.

    • 3 years ago
  • nicodemus510
    • 0
      nicodemus510  

    • As a society we have studied history in order to avoid consequence while correcting mistakes we have made. However there will be no correction after something permanent like this event.

    • 3 years ago
  • mnaumanm
  • Angel4truth
    • 0
      Angel4truth  

    • Wow, scientific studies show there was more ice than 1966 last winter. And that we should expect more next year. That was printed in 2008.

      Seriously, wake up people WE DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO CONTROL SOLAR CYCLES.

      Yes, it's the sun, not us that is doing this.

      Oh fuck, now we can't all panic. How will I spend my time? sigh.

    • 3 years ago
  • stephenthomson
  • Angel4truth
    • 0
      Angel4truth  
    • Angel4truth:

      OMG that was good. Funny too.

      I never said we shouldn't preserve our earth. I just stated the obvious. We cannot control solar cycles at this time.

      Hey have a good day and thanks for the post.

    • 3 years ago
  • aquamammal
  • stephenthomson
  • Angel4truth
  • Wetdog
    • 0
      Wetdog  

    • Here is what needs to be done. It is not hard, it is not expensive and we can do it without politicians.

      http://groups.msn.com/BreakingTheChains/general.msnw?action=get_message&mvie...

      Everyone who wants to change things, needs to get whatever you can afford to invest together and make an investment in a company that will produce and market biofuels, or renewable energy. We need to buy stocks in traditional energy companies, and use your voice as a stockholder to change company policies. We have everything we need, we just need to use them.

    • 3 years ago
  • Sons_Of_Liberty
  • bss05g
  • jjmaster
    • 0
      jjmaster  

    • People just refuse to believe that disaster is imminent! It won't do us any good when it all melts to say, "Now do you believe?" And though the greedbreedingpowerhungry think that they will survive because of their status, they will go down with the rest of us! Ignorant slime that they are!

    • 3 years ago
  • Angel4truth
  • sublimeuniverse
  • electricsquiral
  • kennymotown
  • DeliaTheArtist
  • Angel4truth
    • 0
      Angel4truth  
    • kennymotown:

      Then you need to pray to the SUN.

      As the cycle of the sun (solar cycle) is causing the current condition of the earth.

      we have nothing to do with that part.

      YES the SUN is entering another cycle, and thus our weather will change.

      Freaking out about it will do nothing.

    • 3 years ago
  • Kati_kat
    • 0
      Kati_kat  

    • Yeah, then Antarctica will start to melt and those of us on the coast are screwed double... Better learn to swim.

      People are content, and we can't imagine living any other way. We just don't seem intelligent enough as a species to forsee the consequences of our lifestyles and give up voluntarily those things we don't need that are committing us to extinction.

    • 3 years ago
  • CaptB
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Perhaps we can then follow this news up with what we are going to do to stop the spewing of fossil fuels into our atmosphere. Anyone willing to protest a power plant? Write a letter to hold this Congress to their oaths? Just what are we prepared to do? Are we just going to LET these imperialist governments drill in the Arctic? They only get away with it because the people are too content and ill informed to get up and stop it.

    • 3 years ago
  • thetrimsmith
  • regjoeschmo
  • Saladin
  • Angel4truth
    • 0
      Angel4truth  
    • regjoeschmo:

      The ice is high in the winter and lower in the summer due to ......
      SOLAR CYCLES of the sun.
      It is entering a different phase.

      We cannot control the sun.

      Global warming is being used to make us fear and clean the earth, which should be done anyhow. But the lie is freaking insane.

    • 3 years ago
  • RojoGatto
  • stephenthomson
    • 0
      stephenthomson  

    • quick, claim the melted territory so we can drill for more oil. so we can burn it and spew more GHGs into the atmosphere.

      #@##!!!$$@%%$^^#&&**&@^&*^@#^^@@$#!!!!^!

      we gotta be the stupidest motherfuckers Earth has ever seen.

    • 3 years ago
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