Arctic ice cover shrinks to its lowest in a century

Arctic ice cover shrinks to its lowest in a century

According to a latest research undertaken by US scientists, the Arctic ice cap has shrunk dangerously to its lowest size in the last 100 years.

The study, a collective effort by NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Centre, also found that along with the sharp decrease in size of the Arctic ice cap, the temperatures in the region is subsequently on the up.

Post 2002, regions to the north of Siberia and Alaska have been experiencing premature springtime melting. But lately, such abnormalities are being observed all over the Arctic, the study revealed. In fact this September, the melting process began more than a fortnight in advance.

These newest findings, which have not be documented in any scientific journal yet, show that at present the Arctic ice cap measures 2.06 million square miles, the smallest size recorded in over a century. To explain the gravity of the situation, this figure is 20% lower than the average Artic ice shelter measurement taken in 1978.

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Meanwhile, average air temperature in most parts of the Arctic between January-August 2005 was 5.4 degrees hotter than the average temperature recorded over the previous 50 years.

Prior to 1978, the sea ice records were pretty vague. But thanks to the satellite boom, research has become all the more dependable. And the lethal fact has been exposed that the Arctic ice is receding at the rate of 8% per decade. As a result, the temperature in and around the Arctic is likely to get even warmer in future.

The scientific reason given for this is that when ice melts, it begins to get darker and starts absorbing heat. Normal, white ice reflects back 85 percent of the sunlight. However, when it melts, the ice begins to absorb more heat which in turn leads to further liquefying.

Ted Scambos of the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center, points out that the Arctic air is responsible in a big way for the world's climatic pattern and hence the after effects would be felt globally.

Another important observation made by Michael McCracken of the U.S.-based non-profit organization the Climate Institute was regarding the hazardous levels sea waters could rise to in the future due to melting.

In time, as the Arctic ice cover shrinks further, polar bears and seal species may vanish while the living population will also have to face dire economic consequences.

While it's true that the climatic changes in the Arctic is primarily a natural phenomenon, researchers believe that the role of global warming cannot be ignored.

In the 90's a cyclical atmospheric circulation pattern, known as the Arctic Oscillation, threw away the sea ice into neighbouring water bodies. But, over the years, this occurrence gradually tapered even as the melting of sea ice did not cease.

Scientists have issued a stern warning that if this rapid ice deterioration continues, the Arctic ice cover would become non-existent 60 years from now.