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Ice in Canada’s Northwest Passage has vanished

Aug 21, 2016 by Beth Balen Leave a Comment

The picture above tells the whole story. On Aug. 9 NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite captured an image of Canada’s Northwest Passage in a state that NASA says is the “new normal” – the ice that is typically present in the famed waterway nearly year round has vanished. As climate change continues to transform the region, the ice-choked path between Amundsen Gulf to Baffin Bay is now open water.

NASA sea ice scientist Walt Meier says that even if this year does not break the ice extent loss record that was set in 2012, the situation is becoming typical. “A decade ago, this year’s sea ice extent would have set a new record low and by a fair amount,” said Meier. “Now, we’re kind of used to these low levels of sea ice – it’s the new normal.”

Meier says that the sea ice of the region reached a record low maximum extent in March, and continued with fairly rapid ice loss through May. According to Meier, melting slowed in June, which makes it unlikely that the ice loss this year will set a new record, but it is showing no signs of any kind of recovery. “It’s still in a continued decline over the long term,” he said. “It’s just not going to be as extreme as other years because the weather conditions in the Arctic were not as extreme as in other years.”

The sea ice cover of the Kara and Barents seas north of Russia opened in April this year, exposing the surface of the ocean to the warmth of the sun weeks ahead of schedule. By May 31 the extent of sea ice cover loss in the area was a month ahead of normal.

A weather change in June slowed the loss of the sea ice, but Meier says a really strong low pressure system moving across the Arctic could start the accelerated ice melt again.

Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

Mysterious find beneath the ice in Antarctica

Apr 28, 2016 by Jerry Newberry Leave a Comment

A scientific team presented evidence last week at the European Geosciences Union in Vienna that indicates there is a massive canyon system below the ice in Antarctica that may even contain a large sub-glacial lake, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

The discovery, which was actually first announced back in January of this year, is the first evidence that a canyon and possibly a lake are beneath the ice in Princess Elizabeth Land, on the continent, according to lead researcher Dr. Stewart Jamison, from Durham University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Jamison commented in the initial press release, “This is a region of the Earth that is bigger than the UK and yet we still know little about what lies beneath the ice.”

The scientists estimate the lake to be about 60 miles long and about 6 miles wide and may run as deep as two feet in some areas, according to Martin Siegert, who is a member of the team investigating the lake at Imperial College in London.

Evidence of the lake was first noticed by using satellite imaging and radio-echoing sounding methods. Dr. Siegert said they saw linear channels on the surface that inferred the massive channels below the ice, and the probability of a lake as well.

Recently, scientists from China and the United States were able to use penetrating radar to collect information about the area which may confirm the existence of the lake, but the research team has not yet reviewed the data. They expect to examine the information as a group some time in May.

The location of the potential lake has scientists excited about the possibilities of research, since there is a previously established base about 60 miles from the area. Researchers would be able to conduct experiments in the sub-glacial waters, looking for microbes, bacteria, and possibly traces of DNA, while trying to gain a better understanding of the ecosystem of the continent.

Dr. Jamison added an increased knowledge of the landscape below the ice could lead to understanding the reaction of the ice sheets to the changing climate in the area.

With the Antarctic sea ice levels, climate models got it all wrong this time

Mar 2, 2015 by Charles Omedo Leave a Comment

Climate models have always proved an invaluable tool at analyzing and predicting future sea levels, and it is not often that they are wrong, but in regards to the sea ice coverage predicted of the Antarctica – Chinese scientists published a report in the journal Cryosphere that indicate the climate model earlier used was wrong.

Climate models had earlier warned that the Antarctic sea ice coverage would decrease in response to a warming world and increase in greenhouse gas levels, but this is not what happened – in fact, the opposite actually happened. According to models, the Antarctica would shrink between 1979 and 2005, but rather than this, the South Pole sea ice levels rose within this period.

And sea ice levels have only risen since 2006, reaching an all-time high for sea ice coverage in September 2014.

“For the Antarctic, the main problem of the [climate] models is their inability to reproduce the observed slight increase of sea ice extent,” wrote the researchers.

“Both satellite-observed Antarctic [sea ice extent] and [satellite measured] Antarctic [sea ice volume] show[s] increasing trends over the period of 1979–2005, but [climate models’] Antarctic [sea ice extent] and [sea ice volume] have decreasing trends,” the scientists added. “Only eight models’ [sea ice extent] and eight models’ [sea ice volume] show increasing trends.”

While the Chinese researchers had only analyzed sea ice predictions until 2005, they would have obtained a steady proof of “slightly increasing” sea ice levels if they had looked further. Antarctica sea ice level rose over 7.72 square miles last year – the first of such on record, and by September 22, 2014, the sea ice advanced to 7.76 square miles – its highest level on record.

Meanwhile, considering the fact that the Antarctica is now in its melt season, the sea ice level is still very high for late December and early January. But this can never be the case with Arctic sea ice coverage. According to the Chinese researchers, “both climatology and linear trend are better reproduced” for the Arctic. And to prove the Chinese scientists as correct, the Arctic sea ice level and volume has decreased in response to global warming – just as they had predicted.

The average for sea ice level in January 1979 was 6 million square miles, and it averaged over 5.2 million square miles for January 2006 – the lowest for any January on record.

But then, the Arctic has stabilized and also risen some more since 2006, while that of January 2015 was 19,000 square miles above that on record for January 2011. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, “Arctic sea ice extent for January was the third lowest in the satellite record. Through 2015, the linear rate of decline for January extent over the satellite record is 3.2% per decade.”