I am no doomsayer but the American National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has recorded a fall in the Arctic ice to its second lowest level since satellite monitoring began 30 years ago. The consequences of fast melting ice are not just dire for the polar bears but also for coastal regions that will be submerged if sea levels rise. Add to that the displacement of people dependant upon the Arctic for survival and other Arctic fauna like seals who may see their natural habitat gone by as early as 2013.
The thawing of the Arctic leads to warmer oceans which in turn melt the ice even faster putting the Arctic in a vicious cycle until it completely liquefies. Last year was a record low when only 4.13 million sq km of the Arctic was covered by ice this time around. As of last Tuesday, the area covered by ice is 5.26 million sq km which is still lower than the 2005 figure of 5.32 million sq km and it could shrink further as the summer draws to a close.
According to the NSIDC, this trend clearly shows that the Arctic is increasingly shrinking year-on-year and has now reached a tipping point where it's at the risk of being completely ice-free. Our continued addiction to fossil fuels risks causing huge temperature rises this century. Burning of coal for example releases carbon trapped underneath the surface back into the atmosphere thus adding to the greenhouse effect causing climate change.
Unless we cut our greenhouse gas emissions by leaving coal in the ground and converting energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar and tidal, the Arctic will continue melting a little more each summer until no ice is left. Ironically an ice-free Arctic will allow for more drilling for oil and gas whose use helped cause the Arctic to melt in the first place. But see what you can do to stop climate change and help preserve the Arctic.
