My wife took a cruise to Antarctica this year because she knew it would be gone likely this century: all the ice at the north and south pole. So, she wanted to see it before it was gone.
However, on the bright side by 2040 or 2050 colonization of Antarctica likely will begin in warmer areas and planting plants and trees likely will begin around then too that can survive colder areas.
By 2100 you might even see cities begin to spring up on Antarctica as well as in previously uninhabitable places in Alaska, Canada and Siberia.
But, you will also see people moving away from the Equator except places that live mostly at night because days will be mostly too hot to even grow food there and the same might be true for oceans on the equator except for aquatic life that lives mostly below 30 to 50 feet deep.
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Arctic Ice Melt: How Much Ice Does Man-Made Climate Change Melt Each Year?
| The Inquisitr | - |
In a phone interview with the Christian Science Monitor,
Notz said that the study is important because it could remind people
that the little things they do may have major implications on climate
change, and likewise Arctic sea ice and its melt rates ...
Arctic Ice Melt: How Much Ice Does Man-Made Climate Change Melt Each Year?
If Arctic ice melt continues at its current pace, the region may be completely ice-free in the summer by the year 2045.
That was the main take-home thought of a new study published earlier in the week in the journal Science, but that wasn’t the only shocking revelation the research has hinted at. According to the study, Americans rank among the top contributors in annual greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change, and consequently melt sea ice in the Arctic. Sea ice, which refers to the ocean water that freezes in the winter and melts in the summer, has progressively been shrinking in volume, and recent statistics from the National Snow and Ice Data Center show summertime levels decreasing by close to 34,000 square miles each year.
According to a report from USA TODAY that cited the new study, Americans are responsible for about 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, or 600 square feet of Arctic ice melt per year, and that reduction in sea ice may be facilitated by something “as simple as your summer road trip.” If the Arctic loses its sea ice in the summer months by 2045 as predicted, that could mean higher chances of severe weather events, unless carbon emissions are quickly and drastically reduced.
Aside from U.S. residents, those from Australia, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and Oman have also contributed greatly to carbon emissions that result in a loss of Arctic sea ice. The researchers also noted that each metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is responsible for about three square meters of Arctic ice melt per year during the summer months.
In a phone interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Notz said that the study is important because it could remind people that the little things they do may have major implications on climate change, and likewise Arctic sea ice and its melt rates.
“Our study now provides individuals with the sense that their own individual actions make a difference,” said Notz. “If I decide to drive my car a little less or to buy a car that uses less fuel, for example, all these little actions will make a difference for sea ice.”
As the historic Paris climate treaty took effect on Friday, with hopes of keeping global temperatures no higher than two degrees Celsius/3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial averages, Notz issued the dire warning that summer sea ice may have already disappeared from the Arctic by the time world temperatures hit that mark. He believes that a stricter threshold may be needed to ensure sea ice doesn’t disappear as predicted – no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center sea ice researcher Walter Meier also spoke to the Christian Science Monitor, chiming in on Notz’s study and what it means as far as the ongoing problem of climate change is concerned. According to Meier, who was not involved in the study, warming can make a much bigger impact in the Arctic as ice melt can occur with just a few degrees difference in temperature. He illustrated an example where an uptick of two degrees Fahrenheit may be negligible in a city like Washington D.C., but serve as the “difference between ice skating and swimming” in the Arctic.
[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
That was the main take-home thought of a new study published earlier in the week in the journal Science, but that wasn’t the only shocking revelation the research has hinted at. According to the study, Americans rank among the top contributors in annual greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change, and consequently melt sea ice in the Arctic. Sea ice, which refers to the ocean water that freezes in the winter and melts in the summer, has progressively been shrinking in volume, and recent statistics from the National Snow and Ice Data Center show summertime levels decreasing by close to 34,000 square miles each year.
According to a report from USA TODAY that cited the new study, Americans are responsible for about 20 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, or 600 square feet of Arctic ice melt per year, and that reduction in sea ice may be facilitated by something “as simple as your summer road trip.” If the Arctic loses its sea ice in the summer months by 2045 as predicted, that could mean higher chances of severe weather events, unless carbon emissions are quickly and drastically reduced.
Aside from U.S. residents, those from Australia, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and Oman have also contributed greatly to carbon emissions that result in a loss of Arctic sea ice. The researchers also noted that each metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is responsible for about three square meters of Arctic ice melt per year during the summer months.
“If both the linear relationship and current emission trends hold into the future, the study suggests the Arctic will be ice-free by 2045 — far sooner than some climate models predict. The study suggests that those models are underestimating how warm the Arctic has already become and how fast that melting will proceed.”The study’s authors also stressed that Arctic ice melt may have contributed to the ongoing California drought as well as harsh winter weather events on the East Coast. Furthermore, lead author Dirk Notz of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Germany believes that the loss of ice may have dangerous consequences for Arctic animal species, such as polar bears, who live primarily on this Arctic Ocean sea ice and use the area for hunting and foraging for food.
In a phone interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Notz said that the study is important because it could remind people that the little things they do may have major implications on climate change, and likewise Arctic sea ice and its melt rates.
“Our study now provides individuals with the sense that their own individual actions make a difference,” said Notz. “If I decide to drive my car a little less or to buy a car that uses less fuel, for example, all these little actions will make a difference for sea ice.”
As the historic Paris climate treaty took effect on Friday, with hopes of keeping global temperatures no higher than two degrees Celsius/3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial averages, Notz issued the dire warning that summer sea ice may have already disappeared from the Arctic by the time world temperatures hit that mark. He believes that a stricter threshold may be needed to ensure sea ice doesn’t disappear as predicted – no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center sea ice researcher Walter Meier also spoke to the Christian Science Monitor, chiming in on Notz’s study and what it means as far as the ongoing problem of climate change is concerned. According to Meier, who was not involved in the study, warming can make a much bigger impact in the Arctic as ice melt can occur with just a few degrees difference in temperature. He illustrated an example where an uptick of two degrees Fahrenheit may be negligible in a city like Washington D.C., but serve as the “difference between ice skating and swimming” in the Arctic.
[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
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