Sep 15 2007
Where’s the Beach ?
The polar ice cap is shrinking dramatically. As of September 4, 2007, the sea ice extent was a full 17% below the record minimum that had previously occurred on September 20-21, 2005. Although the rate of melting is starting to slow down as the days grow shorter, more melting is expected this month.
In seperate studies the difference in sea ice extent between August 1979 (the beginning of the data record) and August 2007 averaged a startling 40% over the course of those 28 years.
No computer climate models predicted that such a huge loss in Arctic ice would occur so soon. Up until now, climate scientists believed an ice-free Arctic ocean would occur in the 2070-2100 time frame. Then in the February 2007 report from the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned that without drastic changes in greenhouse gas emissions, Arctic sea ice would “almost entirely” disappear by the end of the century. But if it continues unabated according to what we see here, the possibility of the polar ice cap being entirely gone some time between 2030 and 2040 is more likely. Dr. Mark Serreze, an Arctic ice expert with the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said, “It seems that the Arctic is going to be a very different place within our lifetimes, and certainly within our children’s lifetimes.”
Apparently this got a lot of people excited who live about20 feet above sea level. But interestingly, the melting of the Arctic sea ice will not raise ocean levels appreciably, since the ice is made up of frozen sea water that is floating in the ocean. As with most things in nature, it wont be the melting of the arctic sea that gives people at 20-30 feet above sea level, fresh ocean front property. Instead, the dark, sunlight-absorbing water at the North pole will lead to a large increase in average temperatures up there. Warmer temperatures will accelerate the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, which holds enough water that is capable of raising the sea level 20 feet. So hang in there. it could happen ! Where I live right now will be under water by about 20 feet…I guess I could tie the boat up to my balcony while I get ready to hightail it once and for all !
