Arctic sea ice hits its minimum extent for the year – 2 NASA scientists explain what's driving the overall decline

Sea ice cover there has dropped by roughly half since the 1980s as a direct result of increased carbon dioxide from human activities. The Arctic is heating up In recent years, Arctic sea ice levels have been at their lowest since at least 1850 for the annual mean and in at least 1,000 years for late...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Conversation : Environment + Energy
Main Authors Petty, Alek, Boisvert, Linette
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston The Conversation US, Inc 22.09.2021
Subjects
Carbon dioxide
Climate change
Cyclones
Environmental assessment
Heat
Ice
Ice cover
Ice formation
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Polar environments
Radiation
Sea ice
Summer
Weather
United States > US
Arctic region
Siberia
Alaska
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Sea ice cover there has dropped by roughly half since the 1980s as a direct result of increased carbon dioxide from human activities. The Arctic is heating up In recent years, Arctic sea ice levels have been at their lowest since at least 1850 for the annual mean and in at least 1,000 years for late summer, according to the latest climate assessment from the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The more heat the ocean gains during summer, the more heat needs to be lost before ice can begin to form again. Because of this, some of the biggest warming signals are actually observed in fall, despite all the attention given to summer ice losses.