The Big Melt: No Ice at the North Pole This Summer
Pastor Dale Morgan
The Big Melt: No Ice at the North Pole This Summer
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Friday, June 27, 2008
It seems unimaginable, but it is possible that for the first time in
recorded history the North Pole will be free of ice this summer,
according to a published report Friday.
If predictions hold true, the situation presents a "unique" prospect of
sailing in open waters at the North Pole before the region begins to
cool in September.
"The issue is that, for the first time that I am aware of, the North
Pole is covered with extensive first-year ice — ice that formed last
autumn and winter. I'd say it's even-odds whether the North Pole melts
out," Dr. Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at Snow and Ice Data
Center in Boulder, Colo., told The Independent newspaper in London.
One-year ice is highly vulnerable to melting during the summer months
and satellite data over recent weeks has shown the rate of melting to be
faster than last year, when there was an all-time record loss of summer
sea ice at the Arctic, according to the report.
"From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on
the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to
be ice at the North Pole, not open water," said Serreze.
Scientists worldwide are trying to figure out why the Arctic is warming
and melting faster than computer models predict.
"Last year we saw huge areas of the ocean open up, which has never been
experienced before. People are expecting this to continue this year and
it is likely to extend over the North Pole. It is quite likely that the
North Pole will be exposed this summer – it's not happened before," said
Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University, one of the first civilian
scientists to sail beneath Arctic sea ice in a British Royal Navy submarine.
The summer of 2007, like the summer of 2005, broke all records for loss
of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and the Greenland ice sheet. In
September 2007, the Arctic Ocean had 23 percent less sea ice than the
previous record low and Greenland's ice sheet melted 19 billion tons
more than its previous record.
Ron Lindsay, a polar scientist at the University of Washington in
Seattle, agreed that a great deal now depends on weather, wind patterns
and hours of sunshine in the Arctic.
"There's a good chance that it will all melt away at the North Pole,
it's certainly feasible, but it's not guaranteed," Lindsay said.