Alexandra Yarn, associate professor of the atmosphere, oceans and the Arctic at the University of Colorado Boulder University. It was originally published in conversation.
It was only time I came out on the frozen Arctic waters off Ukkiagbik, Alaska that I was captivated by the icescape.
A few feet tall mountain of blue and white sea bushes gave way again to flat areas and tiled rubs. Snow on serious feet of serious depth hides gaps between sea ice blocks.
As a polar climate scientist, I have been focusing on ice for over a decade. But spending time on the ice with people who rely on for their lifestyle offers a different perspective.
Local hunters run snowmobiles over sea ice to reach the whales and seals they rely on for traditional foods. They talked about knowing when Be Be Ice can move, and how it changes as global temperatures rise. They described the worsening coastal erosion as the protective ice disappears earlier and forms later. On land, they are fighting against the melting permafrost, which causes roads and buildings to sink.
George Chakchin, left, Mick Chakchin walks down the sea ice ridge.
Their experience reflects the data I have worked on from satellites and climate models.
Most winters cover the entire surface of the Arctic Basin, extending into the Northern Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. Even at the end of summer, even the ice used to cover the Arctic Ocean. However, as daily satellite observations began in 1978, ice at the end of summer fell by about 50%.
The first September, 2024, with sea ice concentrations and satellite data at the end of the 1979 melt season. The pink line for comparison is the middle edge of the area from 1981 to 2010, covering at least 15% ice. Both ice-covered areas and sea concentrations of Sepborg
This summer’s decline has many benefits for ice areas, from changing local ecosystems to allowing more transport through the Arctic Ocean. Additionally, loss of the surface of reflective white sea ice promotes global warming as it absorbs the radiation of the sun and leaves the leaves of the leaves of the leaves that add dark open water to add heat to the system.
What coastal communities are losing
Along the Alaska coast, the decline of the Arctic Ocean ice cover is most prominent in longer, ice-free seasons. It is formed later in the failure period than early in the spring.
For those living there, this means a shorter season when ice can safely travel, reducing the time when sea ice exists to protect the ocean from ocean waves.
Travelling in the Gulf of Camden kayak, in northern Alasco in Beaufort
Open water increases the risk of coastal erosion, especially when accompanied by permafrost, strong storms and sea level rise. All is driven by the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels.
At Alaska’s coastal locations, erosion threatens roads, homes and the entire community. Research shows that coastal erosion in Alaska has accelerated over the last few decades.
Open water for more weeks also affects the animals. Polar bears spend the summer on land, but IOs need to hunt their favorite food: seals. The longer the ocean is away from land, the longer polar bears can be deprived of this high-fat food, which can ultimately threaten the bear’s survival.
The ice is thinner and younger
We captured the thinning and younger sea ice across satellite data from the Arctic.
As in the late 1970s, about 60% of the Arctic Ocean are at least one year old, typically thicker than younger ice. Today, more than a year ago, ice volume has dropped to about 35%.
Age of SE Ice Persinage within Artistic Ocean from March 11th to 18th, 1985 to 2022. noaa
Locals are experiencing different changes in experiences: multi-year sea ice is much less salty than new sea ice. The hunter used to cut multi-yard blocks is ice to get drinking water, but no scholarships are found on that old ice.
It becomes the shape of ice from salty seawater. When water freezes, salt gathers among the ice crystals. The higher the salt, the lower the water’s freezing point, so sea ice enclosures contain salty liquid water, known as salt water. This salt water is discharged from the sea ice over time through small channels in the ice. Therefore, multi-year sea ice that survives at least one melting cycle is less salty than first-year sea ice.
As the coastal land sea ice around Utqiagvik does not contain Muchyar Sea Ice, Huters must use lake ice or simply jugs of jugs if they plan to stay on ice for several days.
Why data indicates decindesine
As long as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the Arctic Circle is generally continuing to decline, research shows. One study statistically thought that the average annual carbon footprint per capita in the United States was the size of a large hotel room of 430-538 square feet (40-50 square meters) each year due to the disappearance of summer area.
Today, when the Arctic Circle is ice-extensible, at the end of summer it only covers about half of what was covered in 1979 during that time. The Arctic still has about 1.8 million square miles (4.6 million square kilometers) of seas, surviving summer melts, roughly equaling the area of the entire European Union.
Climate models show that within decades the Arctic could become ice-free at the end of summer, depending on how quickly humans reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The winning of accessibility of transport routes, which is articular in the summer, suggests that a significant decline in the sea waldo will result in profond ecological changes in the Arctic Ocean as more light and heat enter the sea level.
The warmer the surface waters, the longer it takes for the ocean to cool down to the autumn freezing point, and the slower the formation of new sea ice.
What now?
The Arctic Ocean will continue to form in winter for the next few decades. A few months without sunlight means that the Vry cold continues in winter and the oceans form.
The Pacific Walrus represents the surface through ice from Alasco
Climate models estimate that very high atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are required to warm the climate, rather than forming in winter in the Arctic Ocean, not ice in winters more than 4.5 times the current levels.
However, winter oceans cover less areas as the earth warms. For those living along Alaska’s Arctic Coast, winter ice still returns. However, if global greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, climate models show that even winter sea ice along Alaska’s coast can be disappointing by the end of the 21st century.
