Melt Rates, Temperature Increases Accelerating In North And South

[hatrack]

EDIT

The extent of Arctic sea ice cover has decreased by 7-9 per cent per decade. And the three smallest extents of summer ice ever seen there have all occurred since 2002. According to the latest forecasts, the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer by the end of this century. (See data and map below) for selected ice melt examples from around the globe.) The Arctic melt season has lengthened by 10-17 days, shrinking the amount of ice buildup that remains from year to year. As sea ice thins and recedes from coastlines, indigenous hunters and fishers are finding themselves cut off from traditional hunting grounds. Coastal communities face more violent and less predictable weather, rising sea levels, and diminishing access to food sources.


Polar bears, unable to cross thin or nonexistent ice to hunt seals, will soon face a severely reduced food source. Scientists fear that with continued melting, the bears may become extinct by the end of the century. Seals, walruses, and seabirds will also lose key feeding and breeding grounds along the ice edge. Marine transport through the Arctic is expected to increase as ice melts and new shipping routes become available. The length of the navigation season along the Northern Sea Route is projected to increase to about 120 days by 2100, up from the current 20-30 days. While this could have positive economic effects, some observers worry about the environmental costs that might accompany increased ship access to Arctic waters, such as oil spills and fishery depletion.


Arctic permafrost has warmed by up to 2 degrees Celsius in recent decades, with soils thawing to greater depths. By the end of this century, the southern permafrost boundary is projected to shift northward by several hundred kilometres, changing regional vegetation patterns. An estimated 15 per cent of the Arctic tundra has already been lost since the 1970s - an area roughly three times the size of California. As permafrost thaws, unstable ground shifts or subsides, damaging buildings, roads, pipelines, and other infrastructure in areas such as Alaska and Siberia.

The Greenland ice sheet is the largest land ice mass in the Northern Hemisphere. It holds enough fresh water to raise the earth's sea level by 7.2 metres (24 feet) if it were to melt completely, a result expected if the regional temperature rises 3 degrees Celsius. Scientists project that concentrations of greenhouse gases will be high enough by 2100 to push temperatures past this threshold.
Satellite data show Greenland's ice has been melting at higher and higher rates every year since 1979. A conservative estimate of annual ice loss from Greenland is 50 cubic kilometres (12 cubic miles) per year, enough water to raise the global sea level by 0.13 millimeters a year."

EDIT

http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=2470

[texastoast]

1. It is happening in Alaska

I have a friend who has lived outside of Anchorage for almost 20 years. She says all of the people who have lived there all of their lives are saying how much warmer it is.

She sent me an email the other day saying it was 70 degrees in April. That has NEVER happened since she has been there.

The shrub is in la la land trying to deny global warming.

[brokensymmetry]

2. And if you think it's bad now...

wait until we ramp up the use of coal to cover the oil gap.