Rate of arctic summer sea ice loss is 50% higher than predicted

I have been keeping up with neven1.typepad.com... posts since reading about Arctic storm a few days ago.

Latest post draws attention to the following article from the Guardian:

www.guardian.co.uk...

Sea ice in the Arctic is disappearing at a far greater rate than previously expected, according to data from the first purpose-built satellite launched to study the thickness of the Earth's polar caps.

This rate of loss is 50% higher than most scenarios outlined by polar scientists and suggests that global warming, triggered by rising greenhouse gas emissions, is beginning to have a major impact on the region. In a few years the Arctic ocean could be free of ice in summer, triggering a rush to exploit its fish stocks, oil, minerals and sea routes.

Interesting reading, at one point article states that while ice is melting quicker in summer its also forming quicker in winter, but overall formation is still on a downward trend.

Conclusion, we still don't have a clue what's really gonna come of all this.

Arctic ocean could be free of ice in summer, triggering a rush to exploit its fish stocks, oil, minerals and sea routes.

I can imagine boardrooms around the world.

"Bad news good news situation"

"Bad news something is seriously wrong with the environment"

"Good news, we can exploit the damage for new oil..."

So you are saying......

We need to cut back on Frozen Daquiris?

According to several posts in climate depot, Arctic sea ice was thicker this winter than 'normal' Shell had to put off its drilling schedule to wait for the ice to thin down a bit!!

. In a few years the Arctic ocean could be free of ice in summer, triggering a rush to exploit its fish stocks, oil, minerals and sea routes.

Conclusion, we still don't have a clue what's really gonna come of all this.

More extreme weather driven by an increasingly erratic jet stream. If you think our weather has been extreme these last few years, wait till we get full arctic sea ice melt each summer (which is a lot closer than anyone has predicted) going by these latest findings.

Then all you have to do is ask yourself, what will the world look like if we can no longer adequately feed our own populations anymore? Its not going to be pretty....

Conclusion....We are all heading for hell in a handcart, with half of us refusing to even acknowledge there is a problem

reply to post by murch

Interesting reading, at one point article states that while ice is melting quicker in summer its also forming quicker in winter, but overall formation is still on a downward trend.

It follows naturally that the more ice, and the further north it melts - it will re-freeze faster in the Winter (this is still the Arctic and it is still well below zero once the Sun goes bye bye). More open water = more to freeze. However the refrozen ice will be much thinner than before, and will thus expose itself to even faster melting in Summers further on. This is why the overall trend is not only downward, but appears to be seriously accelerating - especially when you're talking about ice volume:

Conclusion, we still don't have a clue what's really gonna come of all this.

I think we do, and it ain't pretty.

The consequences of losing the Arctic's ice coverage, even for only part of the year, could be profound. Without the cap's white brilliance to reflect sunlight back into space, the region will heat up even more than at present. As a result, ocean temperatures will rise and methane deposits on the ocean floor could melt, evaporate and bubble into the atmosphere. Scientists have recently reported evidence that methane plumes are now appearing in many areas. Methane is a particularly powerful greenhouse gas and rising levels of it in the atmosphere are only likely to accelerate global warming. And with the disappearance of sea ice around the shores of Greenland, its glaciers could melt faster and raise sea levels even more rapidly than at present.

Professor Chris Rapley of UCL said: "With the temperature gradient between the Arctic and equator dropping, as is happening now, it is also possible that the jet stream in the upper atmosphere could become more unstable. That could mean increasing volatility in weather in lower latitudes, similar to that experienced this year."