Interlinked Climate & Energy Challenges

2010April28: Decreasing levels of sea ice are responsible for unusual increases in temperatures in the Arctic, according to a research study led by James Screen, a researcher the University of Melbourne, Australia. Arctic temperatures have risen twice as fast as the rest of the world in recent decades. According to Screen, “the emergence of these strong ice-temperature feedbacks can only increase the likelihood of further rapid warming and sea ice loss” (Guardian.co.uk, 2010).

Reference: Guardian,co.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/28/arctic-sea-ice-loss-warming

Read the article in Nature http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v464/n7293/full/nature09051.html

Image Description: (Figure 2) Text from NSDIC – “The graph above shows daily sea ice extent as of April 4, 2010. The solid light blue line indicates 2010; green shows 2007; dark blue indicates 1999, the year with the previous latest maximum extent, which occurred on March 29, 1999; and solid gray indicates average extent from 1979 to 2000. The gray area around the average line shows the two standard deviation range of the data.” — Image Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Image Description: (Figure 3) Text from NSDIC – “Monthly March ice extent for 1979 to 2010 shows a decline of 2.6% per decade.” — Image Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center. The images are located at National Snow and Ice Data Center http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/