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WILDLIFE NOW!

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THE FREEZER

DEFROSTS

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WILDLIFE NOW!

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Dramatic melting of sea ice due to global warming is having a major impact on the polar regionJohn Vidal

Arctic sea ice is set to reach its lowest ever recorded extent as early as this weekend, in “dramatic changes” signalling that man-made global warming is having a major impact on the

polar region.

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With the melt happening at

an unprecedented rate of more than

100,000 sq km a day, and at least a

week of further melt expected before

ice begins to reform ahead of the

northern winter, satellites are expect-

ed to confirm the record – currently

set in 2007 – within days.

“Unless something really un-

usual happens we will see the record

broken in the next few days. It might

happen this weekend, almost cer-

tainly next week,” Julienne Stroeve, a

scientist at the US National Snow and

Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in Boulder,

Colorado, told the Guardian.

“In the last few days it has been losing

100,000 sq km a day, a record in

itself for August. A storm has spread

the ice pack out, opening up water,

bringing up warmer water. Things are

definitely changing quickly.”

Because ice thickness, vol-

ume, extent and area are all measured

differently, it may be a week before

there is unanimous agreement among

the world’s cryologists (ice experts)

that 2012 is a record year. Four out of

the nine daily sea ice extent and area

graphs kept by scientists in the US,

Europe and Asia suggest that records

have already been broken. “The

whole energy balance of the Arctic is

changing. There’s more heat up there.

There’s been a change of climate and

we are losing more seasonal ice. The

rate of ice loss is faster than the mod-

els can capture [but] we can expect

the Arctic to be ice-free in summer by

2050,” said Stroeve.

“Only 15 years ago I didn’t expect to

see such dramatic changes – no one

did. The ice-free season is far longer

now. The difference between the rate

of warming at the two poles is at-

tributed to geographical differences.

“Antarctica is a continent surrounded

by water, while the Arctic is an ocean

surrounded by land. Wind and ocean

currents around Antarctica isolate

the continent from global weather

patterns, keeping it cold. In contrast,

the Arctic Ocean is intimately linked

with the climate systems around it,

making it more sensitive to changes

in climate,” said a spokesman for the

NSIDC.

After setting out from

northern Norway last week to witness

this year’s record sea melt in the

Arctic, we reached the edge of the

Arctic polar ice cap this morning. It’s

far further north than expected, at

around 82 degrees N, but the annual

sea ice retreat here has been nowhere

near as great as on the Alaskan side of

the ice cap, where it has dramatically

pulled back hundreds of miles further

than usual.

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The consequences of losing the

Arctic’s ice coverage for the summer

months are expected to be immense.

If the white sea ice no longer reflects

sunlight back into space, the region

can be expected to heat up even more

than at present. This could lead to an

increase in ocean temperatures with

unknown effects on weather systems

in northern latitudes.

In a statement, a Greenpeace spokes-

man said: “The disappearing Arctic

still serves as a stark warning to us

all. Data shows us that the frozen

north is teetering on the brink. The

level of ice ‘has remained far below

average’ and appears to be getting

thinner, leaving it more vulnerable to

future melting. The consequences of

further rapid ice loss at the top of the

world are of profound importance to

the whole planet. This is not a warn-

ing we can afford to ignore.”

“Every one of the 56,000

Inuits in Greenland have

had to adapt to the retreat

of the ice,”