Arctic Sea Ice Lost Area Equal To Alaska In 2005 Alone - News-Miner

[hatrack]

The Arctic Ocean ice pack has not rebounded from record minimums recorded last summer, causing scientists to worry that the planet's global warming "canary in the coal mine" is in a tightening spiral of decline. Abnormally high temperatures across the Arctic basin most of this winter have slowed the production of new ice, according to Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado.

The ice pack lost an area the size of Alaska in 2005 and has thinned dramatically in the last four years. Serreze said conditions are now right for another record-breaking minimum following this summer's melt, provided there isn't a cold snap. "It's just not recovering this winter," Serreze said. "And the basic reason it's not recovering is the Arctic Ocean has been so darn warm."

Weather data shows surface temperatures across much of the Arctic were 4 to 5 degrees above normal September through December. The pack has been at or near record minimums every month this winter and Serreze said Wednesday the latest data for March also shows a record minimum. Satellite images of the sea ice date back to 1978. By using other data, Serreze and his fellow researchers believe the sea ice is at its smallest in more than a century.

The ice pack covered more than 3 million square miles in the mid-1970s. That figure had been whittled down to about 2 million square miles by September, according satellite observations. More than 500,000 square miles of ice disappeared last summer alone, according to Serreze.

EDIT

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~3286890,00.html

[CCBeck]

1. This is very sad news. N/T

[jschurchin]

3. First off..............

Welcome to DU CCBeck. Second sooner or later some nutjob will come along and say this is good news, somehow. God we are in deep fucking shit. We have one planet to live on, and if we fuck it up we are done!!!

[CCBeck]

5. Thanks and...

I think we are looking are some serious issues in the enviroment. Unfortunetly people (Sheepole) want to believe we are heading into a climatic breakdown. The message that science has been putting out has increasing become more and more alarming. I read the article the other day posted here and www.dailygrail.com that disscussed our lack of CO2 sponges remaining and that the sponges that we do have are becomeing over full. Given that world leaders are not yet trying to take this seriously I think we might be in for rough waters ahead.

[phantom power]

2. No feedback loops here. Nosiree.

An area the size of Alaska is now absorbing 90% of incoming energy, that one year ago was reflecting 90% of that same energy.

[donsu]

4. Crisis Time - first big world step: no car driving on Wednesdays

tick, tick, tick

the time for debate is over. gone.

not driving cars on Weds. is a big first step toward healing our home. and a step all countries could do. (yes, times zones could be worked out so that the whole earth stopped driving cars the same 24 hrs.)

not trucks, ems, cops, etc. just cars.

this would get everyone in the world's attention on the crisis

[Dogmudgeon]

6. We're doomed

Actually, we wouldn't be doomed if we took some aggressive steps to protect ourselves NOW, but that just isn't being done. Which means that climate disruption, energy-supply crash, agricultural collapse and political instability will all be rushing in toward a great Dissonant Convergence in "a few years".

Not necessarily Xmas 2012. But pretty soon.

--p!