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Sam Soja, The Canadian Press/AP
Three Arctic Ice Shelves Suffer Irreparable Damage
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Researchers, who predicted earlier this year that the North Pole would be ice-free by the end of the summer, say climate change is the culprit.
‘Three Ice Shelves Breaking up in Arctic’
In northern Canada, two ice shelves have lost large sections and another has gone adrift in the Arctic Ocean, according to the Discovery Channel.
“These changes are irreversible under the present climate and indicate that the environmental conditions that have kept these ice shelves in balance for 4,000 years are no longer present,” said Trent University’s polar expert Derek Mueller to Discovery.
The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, which broke in half in July, lost a piece measuring about 8.5 square miles (22 square km); the Serson Ice Shelf lost two sections of about 47 square miles (122 square km) total.
The Markham Ice Shelf, which is about 19 square miles (50 square km) or “almost the size of Manhattan,” according to The Times of London, broke off completely from its location near the coast of Ellesmere Island in August.
Researchers are warning that the recent losses in polar ice are a sign of what is in store for the rest of the planet in the future. “Cimate models indicate that the greatest changes, the most severe changes, will happen earliest in the highest northern latitudes,” according to Warwick Vincent, the director of Laval University's Centre for Northern Studies.
“These changes are irreversible under the present climate and indicate that the environmental conditions that have kept these ice shelves in balance for 4,000 years are no longer present,” said Trent University’s polar expert Derek Mueller to Discovery.
The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, which broke in half in July, lost a piece measuring about 8.5 square miles (22 square km); the Serson Ice Shelf lost two sections of about 47 square miles (122 square km) total.
The Markham Ice Shelf, which is about 19 square miles (50 square km) or “almost the size of Manhattan,” according to The Times of London, broke off completely from its location near the coast of Ellesmere Island in August.
Researchers are warning that the recent losses in polar ice are a sign of what is in store for the rest of the planet in the future. “Cimate models indicate that the greatest changes, the most severe changes, will happen earliest in the highest northern latitudes,” according to Warwick Vincent, the director of Laval University's Centre for Northern Studies.
Background: Arctic ice in danger
Earlier in the year, scientists warned that the summer could bring an ice-free Arctic. “The North Pole may be free of ice for the first time in history,” said Canadian climate scientist David Barber, the Canada Research chairperson in Arctic System Science, to Canwest News Service. “This is a very dramatic change in the High Arctic Climate System.” The Arctic ice shelf underwent a considerable weakening two summers ago that left the area with a greater concentration of surface ice.
Source: Canwest News Service
Satellite images confirm that the immediate area around the North Pole now consists mostly of fragile first-year ice. The surface ice that forms anew every winter is much more vulnerable to melting as temperatures rise in the summer, than thicker and denser multi-year ice that has survived several cycles of thawing and refreezing.
Source: National Geographic
In 2006, a team of climatologists predicted that the North Pole would melt by the year 2040, or earlier, saying that some ice would remain on coastlines but that the rest of the pole would become open water.
Source: The Times of London
Security implications
In March, Foreign Affairs warned that the melting of the polar ice caps could have huge global security implications and predicted that the opening of the Northwest Passage could lead to international disputes over shipping routes.
Source: findingDulcinea
Opinion & Analysis: What does the melting mean for us?
Possible negative impacts of a future meltdown include an acceleration of global warming due to the fact that sea ice reflects more of the sun's heat into space than open water, and a loss of habitat for several animal species, such as polar bears. In addition, the melting of sea ice, which is composed of freshwater, could have unforeseeable effects on ocean currents, global climate and the ocean ecosystem, as it will affect the salt content of ocean water, writes Jim Beard.
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch
Related Topics: ‘Russia Steps Up Arctic Claim’
In a sign that competition for the rich resources of the Arctic is heating up, a Russian general has said that the Russian military will start conducting training exercises in the region, on the heels of a similar announcement by the U.S.
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Reference: North Pole Web Cam; the North Pole
Web Cam 3 offers a live "fish eye view" of the North Pole and updates images every two hours.
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Geographic provides some fast facts about the North Pole. There are actually two of them: the north terrestrial pole, which is part of the Earth's axis together with the south terrestrial pole, and the moving north magnetic pole, which is what compass needles point to. The Arctic ice cap is a shifting pack of ice that has no land beneath it.
Source: National Geographic
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