The big melt: Sea ice hits record lows at both poles

Arctic sea ice has been on a consistent decline for years. But until recently, Antarctic sea ice was actually expanding. What's happening?

|
Brian BattaileUS Geological Survey/AP/File
A polar bear dries off after taking a swim in the Chukchi Sea in Alaska in 2014.

Sea ice levels in both the Arctic and the Antarctic have hit record lows, NASA climate scientists report.

The northern record, while bleak, isn’t all that surprising – Arctic sea ice has been on a consistent decline for years. But until recently, Antarctic sea ice was actually expanding. Climate change skeptics have often pointed to ice gain in the Southern Hemisphere, which hit record highs between 2012 and 2014, but now that trend appears to be reversing.

“[It] certainly puts the kibosh on everyone saying that Antarctica's ice is just going up and up,” Walt Meier, a research scientist with the Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, told CNN.

Scientists previously attributed Antarctic ice gains to natural fluctuation in the atmosphere. Simply put, weather at the poles can be erratic – that’s why researchers are hesitant to say that recent southern ice loss is reflective of a trend. But while it’s too early to say for sure, new lows could indicate a longer pattern of melting in the region.

The timing of northern lows has also concerned researchers. It is currently “polar night” in the Arctic, which means much of the region receives no sunlight at all. During October and November, ice over the Arctic Ocean thickens and grows as a result of sub-zero temperatures. But these months have been unusually hot this year, preventing much of that freeze.

That could cause significant meteorological changes down the line, even outside the region. Shifting Arctic climates can affect the polar vortex, which spills cold air into North America, Europe, and Asia. Consequently, any change in the polar vortex could change the frequency and intensity of winter storms on those continents.

Climate scientists have warned about polar ice melt for decades. It now looks likely that 2016 will be the hottest year on record, and the effects of that warming are perhaps the most apparent in the North Pole.

In October, researchers at NASA noticed a new warming trend in the extreme north. Weston Williams reported for The Christian Science Monitor reported:

Not only is seasonal ice melting into the ocean, but the older ice that has remained constantly frozen, sometimes for decades, is also showing signs of significant thinning. The oldest ice in the Arctic has traditionally served as a line of defense against warming, protecting the northern ice cap's integrity through normal seasonal changes. But as the ocean continues to warm, so does the polar cap, leaving the future of the Arctic ice uncertain.

In May, Arctic ice melt was several weeks ahead of where it had been in previous years, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. That record low wasn’t set by a small margin, either – there was a discrepancy of more than 500,000 square kilometers of ice, compared to the previous record low in 2004.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to The big melt: Sea ice hits record lows at both poles
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/1120/The-big-melt-Sea-ice-hits-record-lows-at-both-poles
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe