Despite cloudy, cool summer, Arctic sea ice hits 2nd-lowest level on record
The 2016 Arctic sea ice melt season is over, leaving an emaciated covering of relatively thin ice across the top of the world. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) announced the minimum ice extent on Thursday, finding that 2016 was virtually tied with 2007 for the second-lowest ice extent on record.
All told, the amount of missing Arctic sea ice was nearly 1 million square miles below the 1979 to 2000 average. In other words, the Arctic was missing enough ice to cover the states of Alaska and Texas combined.
While sea ice has been declining sharply in recent decades due to human-caused global warming, the precipitous drop in ice cover during this summer came as a bit of a surprise because the region was unusually cloudy and relatively cool.
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According to the NSIDC, July through August air temperatures in the lower atmosphere were about 1 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit below the 1981 to 2010 average over the central Arctic Ocean, and near to slightly above average in other parts of the Arctic.
However, the sea ice pack was unusually thin going into this melt season, and scientists think unusually mild ocean waters helped melt sea ice from below. Two powerful storms that each howled across the Arctic for days at a time may have turned large pieces of ice into crushed ice, making it easier for the comparatively mild ocean waters to eat away at these floes.
Scientists view the Arctic as a warning for what's ahead in the rest of the globe if human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases continue unabated.
“In the past, we had this remaining sea ice pack that was mostly thick, old ice. But now everything is more jumbled up, which makes it less resistant to melt, so even late in the season you can get weather conditions that give it a final kick,” said Walt Meier, a sea ice researcher with NASA, in a statement.
A recent study looked at 37 years of monthly sea ice extents in the Arctic and Antarctic, and it found that there has not been a single record high in any month since 1986. However, during the same period, there have been 75 new record lows.
“When you think of the temperature records, it’s common to hear the statement that even when temperatures are increasing, you do expect a record cold here or there every once in a while,” said Claire Parkinson, a NASA researcher who was the lead author of that study.
“It is definitely not just September that’s losing sea ice. The record makes it clear that the ice is not rebounding to where it used to be, even in the midst of the winter,” Parkinson said.
Many recent studies indicate that sea ice loss in the Arctic at various times of the year may be affecting weather patterns in the mid-latitudes, including the East Coast of the U.S. and parts of Europe. However, this is still an active subject of debate in the scientific community.
As it has during many melt seasons since 2007, the famed Northwest Passage across far the northern reaches of Canada was -- and still is -- open for ships to pass through.
A large cruise ship made it safely through the narrow and winding waterway, raising concerns about Arctic tourism. Meanwhile, a sailboat that set out to bring awareness and attention to the melting ice and warming Arctic has nearly made it all the way through a daring circumnavigation of the entire Arctic.
Andrew Freedman is Mashable's Senior Editor for Science and Special Projects. Prior to working at Mashable, Freedman was a Senior Science writer for Climate Central. He has also worked as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly and Greenwire/E&E Daily. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, online at The Weather Channel, and washingtonpost.com, where he wrote a weekly climate science column for the "Capital Weather Gang" blog. He has provided commentary on climate science and policy for Sky News, CBC Radio, NPR, Al Jazeera, Sirius XM Radio, PBS NewsHour, and other national and international outlets. He holds a Masters in Climate and Society from Columbia University, and a Masters in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
