Arctic Sea Ice Hit a Scary Milestone

https://earther.gizmodo.com/arctic-sea-ice-hit-a-scary-milestone-1845133739

Dharna Noor

Sept. 21, 2020

Arctic sea ice shrank to its second lowest level on record, researchers announced on Monday. Sorry.

It’s typical for Arctic sea ice to melt in summer and freeze back up in winter. But thanks to a wild-ass, record-breaking heat waves in the Earth’s northernmost regions, this year’s minimum ice extent is anything but normal. 

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Ice declined especially quickly between Aug. 31 and Sept. 5, as warm air from the recent heat wave in Siberia—which would have been nearly impossible without the climate crisis—rose into the region. That six-day period marked the fastest rate of ice loss on record, according to NSIDC.

This is the second-lowest seen since satellite observation began in 1979. But in all likelihood, this occurrence is even more notable than all that. But other research using record like mud deposits and other proxies for deep past climate show that the stark decline in sea ice is like nothing seen in thousands of years.

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This scary news is the latest signal that the climate crisis is fundamentally changing the Arctic, which is the fastest-warming region of our planet. Research shows the area could be well on our way to completely ice-free summers as soon as 2035 unless we make some big, global changes.

“The Arctic is yelling at us to pay attention, with troubling signs from heat waves to massive sea ice loss,” Zach Labe, a postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University, said in a statement emailed to Earther. “This year’s sea ice minimum is part of a highly disturbing downward trend—one that will continue until the summer sea ice is gone unless we slow global warming by systematically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”

•••••

This scary news is the latest signal that the climate crisis is fundamentally changing the Arctic, which is the fastest-warming region of our planet. Research shows the area could be well on our way to completely ice-free summers as soon as 2035 unless we make some big, global changes.

“The Arctic is yelling at us to pay attention, with troubling signs from heat waves to massive sea ice loss,” Zach Labe, a postdoctoral researcher at Colorado State University, said in a statement emailed to Earther. “This year’s sea ice minimum is part of a highly disturbing downward trend—one that will continue until the summer sea ice is gone unless we slow global warming by systematically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”