The area of floating ice in the Arctic has shrunk more this summer than previous years since satellite tracking began in 1979 and it reached a record level a month before the annual ice pullback typically peaks.
The cause is probably a mix of natural fluctuations like unusually sunny conditions in June and July, and long term warming from heat-trapping greenhouse gases and sooty particles accumulating in the air, scientists said.
William L. Chapman, who monitors the region at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said that only an abrupt change in conditions could prevent far more melting before the 24-hour sun of the boreal summer in September.
The melting rate during June and July this year was simply "incredible," Chapman was quoted as saying.
"And then you've got this exposed black ocean soaking up sunlight and you wonder what, if anything, could cause it to reverse course."
Mark Serreze, a sea-ice expert at the National Show and Ice Data Centre, said that his Centre's estimates differed somewhat from those of the Illinois team, and by the ice centre's reckoning, the retreat had not surpassed the satellite-era record set in 2005.
But it was close, he said, adding it is almost certain that by September, there will be more open water in the Arctic than has been seen for a long time.
Ice experts at NASA and the University of Washington echoed his assessment.
Serreze said a high-pressure system parked over the Arctic appeared to have caused a "triple whammy" keeping away clouds, causing winds to carry warm air north and pushing sea ice away from Siberia, exposing huge areas of open water. - DDNEWS
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#1 Global Warming and Arctic Ice
Have you seen the movie "The Day After Tomorrow." If no, you better watch it. It's about Arctic ice melting and global warming, which causes huge disaster and numerous public deaths. We need to act and do something on a government level.