Sea ice melts to record low because of global warming

[lightstalker]

The Independent.
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 29 September 2005

Arctic sea ice has melted to a record low this month, prompting fears that the entire polar ice cap may disappear within decades.

Satellite images of the northern hemisphere's floating sea ice show that the area of ocean covered by the ice during this month was the lowest ever observed by scientists.

It is the fourth consecutive summer that the area covered by the sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk below even the long-term decline, which began at least as far back as the late 1970s.

A gradual loss of sea ice has taken place for a quarter of a century but scientists believe they may be witnessing an acceleration in the melting process because of climate change and a process of "positive feedback" causing a vicious cycle of melting and warming.

The latest figures were released yesterday by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and the National Snow and Ice Data Centre at Colorado University, which described the loss of September ice as a "stunning reduction".

As predicted by The Independent, the sea ice coverage this month fell about 20 per cent below the long-term average.

For the past four years, the loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic has been equivalent to an area of 500,000 square miles - roughly twice the size of Texas or Iraq.

Ted Scambos, the Colorado University scientist who led the study, said a reasonable explanation for the dramatic loss of sea ice is climate change.

"Since the 1990s, the melting and retreat trends are accelerating and the one common thread is that the Arctic temperatures over the ice, ocean and surrounding land have increased in recent decades," Dr Scambos said.

"Normally a summer low is followed by a rebound back to more normal levels but this has not occurred for the past four summers," said Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Centre.

"With four consecutive years of low summer ice extent, confidence is strengthening that a long-term decline is under way," Dr Meier said.

"Having four years in a row with such low ice extents has never been seen before in the satellite record. It clearly indicates a downward trend, not just a short-term anomaly," he said.

Mark Serreze said that the loss of Arctic sea ice is likely to make global warming worse because more ocean is exposed to the warming effects of the sun.

"It's likely that we will find this to be the case in coming decades, because of something called a positive feedback loop, in which an initial warming sets in motion a chain of events that causes further warming. The Arctic is very susceptible to this," Dr Serreze said. "Sea ice is white and, therefore, reflects a lot of the sun's energy back into space, whereas dark, open ocean absorbs a lot more energy ... So, a warming Arctic leads the planet to absorb more energy. That, in turn, could cause global average temperatures to rise still more," he said.

Average surface temperatures in the Arctic this summer were between 2C and 3C warmer than average across the Arctic Ocean.

The famous north-west passage through the Canadian Arctic from Europe to Asia was largely free of ice except for a 60-mile swath of scattered ice floes.

The north-east passage which runs north of Russian Siberia was completely free of ice for the period 15 August to 28 September, the Snow and Ice Data Centre said.

"The sea-ice cover seems to be rapidly changing and the best explanation for this is rising temperatures," Dr Serreze said. "Something has fundamentally changed here, and the best answer is warming," he said.

Sea ice in the Arctic expands and recedes each winter and summer but scientists found for the first time that a natural rebound did not occur last winter and that the start of the melting period in spring occurs earlier than average.

It has meant that ice that has remained stable for many years - so called multiyear ice - has begun to melt, according to the scientists' findings.

Arctic sea ice has melted to a record low this month, prompting fears that the entire polar ice cap may disappear within decades.

Satellite images of the northern hemisphere's floating sea ice show that the area of ocean covered by the ice during this month was the lowest ever observed by scientists.

It is the fourth consecutive summer that the area covered by the sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk below even the long-term decline, which began at least as far back as the late 1970s.

A gradual loss of sea ice has taken place for a quarter of a century but scientists believe they may be witnessing an acceleration in the melting process because of climate change and a process of "positive feedback" causing a vicious cycle of melting and warming.

The latest figures were released yesterday by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and the National Snow and Ice Data Centre at Colorado University, which described the loss of September ice as a "stunning reduction".

As predicted by The Independent, the sea ice coverage this month fell about 20 per cent below the long-term average.

For the past four years, the loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic has been equivalent to an area of 500,000 square miles - roughly twice the size of Texas or Iraq.

Ted Scambos, the Colorado University scientist who led the study, said a reasonable explanation for the dramatic loss of sea ice is climate change.

"Since the 1990s, the melting and retreat trends are accelerating and the one common thread is that the Arctic temperatures over the ice, ocean and surrounding land have increased in recent decades," Dr Scambos said.

"Normally a summer low is followed by a rebound back to more normal levels but this has not occurred for the past four summers," said Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Centre.

"With four consecutive years of low summer ice extent, confidence is strengthening that a long-term decline is under way," Dr Meier said.

"Having four years in a row with such low ice extents has never been seen before in the satellite record. It clearly indicates a downward trend, not just a short-term anomaly," he said.

Mark Serreze said that the loss of Arctic sea ice is likely to make global warming worse because more ocean is exposed to the warming effects of the sun.

"It's likely that we will find this to be the case in coming decades, because of something called a positive feedback loop, in which an initial warming sets in motion a chain of events that causes further warming. The Arctic is very susceptible to this," Dr Serreze said. "Sea ice is white and, therefore, reflects a lot of the sun's energy back into space, whereas dark, open ocean absorbs a lot more energy ... So, a warming Arctic leads the planet to absorb more energy. That, in turn, could cause global average temperatures to rise still more," he said.

Average surface temperatures in the Arctic this summer were between 2C and 3C warmer than average across the Arctic Ocean.

The famous north-west passage through the Canadian Arctic from Europe to Asia was largely free of ice except for a 60-mile swath of scattered ice floes.

The north-east passage which runs north of Russian Siberia was completely free of ice for the period 15 August to 28 September, the Snow and Ice Data Centre said.

"The sea-ice cover seems to be rapidly changing and the best explanation for this is rising temperatures," Dr Serreze said. "Something has fundamentally changed here, and the best answer is warming," he said.

Sea ice in the Arctic expands and recedes each winter and summer but scientists found for the first time that a natural rebound did not occur last winter and that the start of the melting period in spring occurs earlier than average.

It has meant that ice that has remained stable for many years - so called multiyear ice - has begun to melt, according to the scientists' findings.

[Johnno]

just tell me what height the water level will rise too so I can by property at the new 'waterfront' altitude.

[doyle]

If scientists know that at some time in our planet's history, the arctic sea ice has been completely melted, how can the current melt levels be a "record"?

[Stiv]

Burping cows add to global warming

By Odile Meuvret in Paris
Thursday, 29 September , 2005, 10:40

The world may not end with a bang or even a whimper -- just a burp!
This is the worrying scenario sketched by a French expert, who has discovered that the world's cattle are huge contributors to global warming because of the methane emitted by their belches.

The bovine role in TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World As We Know It) scenarios has so far remained remote. Until now, the spotlight has been on cars, trucks, power stations and factories that burn fossil fuels and spew out gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas.

But, according to a researcher at the Climate Mission at the Caisse des Depots, a French state-owned bank, farm animals must also shoulder some of the blame.



France's 20 million cows account for an astonishing 6.5 per cent of national greenhouse-gas emissions, according to his estimates. Each year, their belches send 26 million tonnes of these gases into the atmosphere.

Their faeces -- "dejection bovine," to use the poetic-sounding French phrase -- account for another 12 million tonnes. Compare that with the 12 million tonnes of gas emitted by French oil refineries, demonised by greenies as climate-killers.

Nor is bovine gas just any old gas. It comprises methane and nitrous oxide, which volume-for-volume are 21 and 310 times more effective at trapping solar heat respectively than boring CO2.

By itself, methane is to blame for a fifth of the man-made greenhouse effect of the past 200 years. The good news is that, when it comes to cow farting, we can all breathe a little easier.

"Bovine flatulence plays a negligible role in global warming," is the prim assessment of researcher Benoit Leguet. His work seems offbeat, but its purpose is serious to pinpoint major sources of greenhouse gas that have escaped notice simply because climatology is such a young science.

Agriculture and forestry have long been identified as major factors in the greenhouse debate, both as contributors to and mitigators of the problem. But accurate data is sparse, and this has made political decisions extraordinarily difficult.

For instance, negotiations on land use tied up conclusion of the UN's Kyoto Protocol for years as countries squabbled over concessions that would cut the cost of reducing pollution by road traffic or industry.

Yet scientists warned the politicos that the assumption that forests are "carbon sinks" that safely soak up CO2 was uncertain and possibly dangerous.

France's cow population, according to the new study, accounts for 80 per cent of emissions from farm animals, with the rest generated by sheep, goats, pigs and fowl.

[lightstalker]

Last year the New Zealand Labour government were going to introduce a "fart Tax" on famers for their flatulent livestock.
Cows in particular.
the famers were outraged at the proposed "fart tax" and drove to parliment in their tractors and combine harvesters to protest.
The government finally gave in an scrapped the idea..

[Captain_Solo]

The sky is falling!

[Buzzsaw]

Did global warming cause the fire in LA?

[Slam]

http://www.climatehotmap.org

[kilroy]

no, i think that was a giant with a really big magnifying glass.

[Captain_Solo]

Did global warming cause the fire in LA?

I think Saddam masterminded it from his prison cell to make Bush look bad so he can help the Democrats win.

[Sri Lanky]

The permafrost in the northern regions of the planet have shrunk from an average of 14 feet down to two feet. Something is dramatically changing the climate but what? Is it 'global warming' or is it an anomaly? Pretty soon we will reach a critical point that will tell the tale.

[Slam]

The lack of concern and action about global warming will go down in history as mankinds greatest ignorant mistake.