According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, last Friday saw the lowest amount of sea ice in the Arctic that has ever been recorded – and there is still one more month left in the melt season to go this year.

Using satellites to measure the size of the ice, it was found that there was only 2.02 million square miles of ice in the Arctic. The previous lowest measurement was made on September 21, 2005, when 2.05 million square miles of ice was recorded. The satellite images showed that sea ice is particularly low in the East Siberian side of the Arctic, and the Beaufort Sea, just north of Alaska. The Canadian Archipelago is also seeing low levels of ice, although levels are not worryingly low here quite yet.

Sea ice in the Arctic is important because it helps to keep the region cool by reflecting sunlight back up – without the ice, the sunlight might get absorbed by land or ocean surfaces which are darker than ice. Arctic ice reflects around 80% of sunlight compared to the oceans which absorbs around 90% of direct sunlight.

The latest findings will come as fuel to climate change protestors as polar ice is meant to be one area where global warming effects will be seen first, and will probably affect these areas the most.

However, it may just be natural processes at work which have caused the lower levels of ice. Unusually clear skies have prevailed in the Arctic during June and July meaning more sunshine than normal at a time when the sun is at it’s highest in the sky over the region. This has meant that there has been more direct sunlight of the area, therefore more sunlight has been absorbed, causing larger amounts of warming than normal. Strong winds have also been blowing in warmer air from the south, again contributing to a rise in temperature in the area.

Many believe that although natural processes have played a large part in this year’s ice melt, climate change also has had a role to play. Worryingly, the melting is occurring at a faster rate than computer climate models have predicted – several years ago, it was predicted that a complete summer melt would take place in around 2070-2100, however at today’s rates, a complete summer melt will take place around 2030.

Popularity: 5% [?]