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By 2020, Arctic Ice Could Be Gone

By admin ⋅ July 16, 2007 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ 100 views

According to the latest studies released by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Arctic ice could melt by 2020, much earlier than previously reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Julienne Stroeve, head researcher of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) declared: “This suggests that current model projections may in fact provide a conservative estimate of future Arctic change, and that the summer Arctic sea ice may disappear considerably earlier than IPCC projections.”

Apparently, the computers from IPCC used out-of-date models in this study, the melting actually progressing 30 years quicker than they anticipated. With less or no Arctic ice, the Earth will warm much faster. Without ice to reflect the light, sea will absorb more light and heat, making it difficult for the planet to cool down. Despite the predictions, since 1979, the ice has actually melted at a rate of 9% per decade.

“While the ice is disappearing faster than the computer models indicate, both observations and the models point in the same direction: the Arctic is losing ice at an increasingly rapid pace and the impact of greenhouse gases is growing,” said co-author Marika Holland of NCAR.