Despite climate change making an extreme impact in nearly all aspects of our life, its most obvious indicator is the rising global temperatures. The melting of ice sheets in our Arctic Sea has been one of the strongest pieces of evidence for these rising temperatures.
Scientists have observed that this year has marked a notable decrease to the second lowest temperature since 1978. Mark Serreze, a director at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) remarked, “The 14 lowest sea ice extents have occurred in the past 14 years. It never got any better, and there is no indication of recovery. We are in a new Arctic, something we have never seen before.”
In a typical winter, large sheets of ice cover the Arctic Ocean then begin to shrink and diminish into the spring and summer before refreezing and restoring back to a thick layer that covers the sea as the next winter approaches. This year, a Siberean heat wave resulted in an early start to the annual melt. Recent research has also attributed warmer waters from the Atlantic Ocean working away the sea ice resulting in thinner, quicker to melt, layers. Scientists have predicted the Arctic may be quickly approaching its first iceless summer in the year 2040 if nothing is done to combat the arctic ice sheets’ rapid melting.
One significant player that is affecting the disappearing ice sheet stage is Greenland. Although Greenland’s ice has been melting for an extended period of time, it was melting at a consistent point until it began to disappear at a rapid rate in the late 1990s. Currently, ice melting from Greenland is the number one contributor to rising sea levels on a global scale. The melting from both Greenland and the Arctic poses a major threat to the world’s ecosystems as we know it.
Serreze reported that as a result of the thinning of the ice sheets, “This [thinning] is going to have major impacts on local marine and terrestrial ecosystems. With less sea ice, phytoplankton blooms are increasing, but for animals like polar bears, they are losing their home.” Polar bears utilize the ice to hunt. Not only that, but the main prey of the polar bear seals reside in the sea ice. The melting of the ice forces polar bears to exert an abundance of energy through travel to find the seals or endure an extended fast until the following spring. A recent study of nine female polar bears by Anthony Pagano with the U.S Geological Survey showed that one bear trekked as far as 155 miles in search of food and another–unable to catch any seals– lost 44 pounds in 10 days. Another bear opted to jump into the sea to hunt for seal after seal out of desperation rather than the bear’s traditional hunting method of stalking the ice sheets and attacking seals that popped out of the ice.
While the growing concern for the future of arctic wildlife persists, many are wondering how the melting of these ice sheets will affect humans and everyday life.
One imminent threat of the large sheets melting is a significant rise in sea level, which threatens islands as well as coastal cities and towns. Another issue we could face as a result of these melts is the deregulation of the Earth’s temperature control system which will lead to instability of the heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. The white ice sheets reflect heat back toward space which prevents it from being absorbed by the Earth. As these sheets shrink and begin to disappear, we face the repercussions of the sheet’s absence in the form of extreme winters and an increase in heatwaves. These new weather extremes could potentially disrupt our agricultural activity as well as crops may not be equipped to survive the new severe temperatures.
In addition, the melting of the Arctic’s ice sheets may result in the thawing of permafrost which would result in a significant increase to the carbon emissions in the atmosphere.
These threats have met with genuine concern and an urgency to take action to slow down the melt and prevent further climate change. One team, taking big leaps in these preventative measures, is an organization called The Arctic Ice Project. As outlined in their initiative statement, The Arctic Ice Project is, “working on solutions to restore the Arctic’s natural heat shield to mitigate the impact of global warming.” The team has created small glass spheres, or bubbles, that will be arranged on top of the thinner portions of the ice sheets to help absorb and reflect the sunlight back into space. Field tests have predicted that this method has been highly successful so far and could potentially stop the ice from melting, a beneficial sign.
One not as obvious consequence of the melting ice sheets in the arctic is the availability of new materials and the competition to claim and utilize them. These potential materials include oil, minerals, and various natural gases. Retrieving oil from the arctic is a costly process, so many countries have focused primarily on the minerals the arctic had to offer. Russia, China, and The United States have already established a desire to have control over the resources in the arctic.
In 2007, Russia planted a Russian flag at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean which marked their claim over the materials.
China has devoted about $90 billion into arctic efforts. These costs have supported ships and research stations. China’s goal is to gain control over arctic minerals such as coal, copper, diamonds, as well as oil. China’s determination to gain control over the arctic has led to slight tensions with the United States.
The melting of ice sheets in the arctic promises to make major changes on a global scale whether it be economically, politically, or through nature. As research continues, we hope to continue innovating to find more effective and large scale methods to help reduce the melting as well as the negative effects of the melt on our ecosystems.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/21/us/arctic-sea-ice-shrunk-minimum-extent-2020-scn-trnd/index.html
https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/six-ways-loss-of-arctic-ice-impacts-everyone
https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/climate-change-impacts/climate-and-ice
https://www.wcrp-climate.org/grand-challenges/gc-melting-ice-global-consequences
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/08/14/weather/greenland-ice-sheet/index.html
https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/whats-stake-rising-competition-arctic
Written by Hannah Whitson