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Titolo: Arctic sea ice hits record low: live updates and reaction

Arctic sea ice hits record low: live updates and reaction
 
New data from the US Snow and Ice Data Centre is expected to confirm a 
record Arctic sea ice minimum within days
 
  Adam Vaughan and Conal Urquhart
 
guardian.co.uk
, Friday 14 September 2012 19.55 BST
 
19:55 BST
 
Suzanne Goldenberg has just been speaking to Walt Meier, a research
scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder,
Colorado, the institution which monitors the loss of Arctic summer
ice. He told her the official announcement of a record loss is expected 
soon.
 
“Speaking right now, Monday or Tuesday is probably most likely,” he 
said. But if there is further loss over the weekend, “we will probably 
have to re-evaluate.”
19:48 BST
 
JasonP in the comments section has cited an interesting geological study 
which suggests that the North Pole may not have been ice-free for as 
long as 14 million years. The study also provides a detailed history of 
sea ice in the Arctic.
 
Here's the link (pdf):
 
 
http://bprc.osu.edu/geo/publications/polyak_etal_seaice_QSR_10.pdf
 
 
19:08 BST
 
According to Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington DC, all the evidence in
the world has not been enough to convince the Republican party of the
reality of climate change – let alone a summer of heatwaves, drought,
wildfires, and wild weather, including the hurricane that forced the
party to postpone the start of their convention.
 
Mitt Romney turned climate change into a laugh line in his speech
accepting the Republican presidential nomination.
 
But a self-identified Republican meteorologist was betting that the
loss of Arctic sea ice could finally change some minds.
 
In a blog post over at Climate Progress today, Paul Douglas puts record 
sea ice at the top of his list of 10 reasons
to accept climate reality.
 
Douglas writes:
 
     I may not fit the stereotype of a “global warming alarmist.” I’m an
     Evangelical Christian. I’m enthusiastic about streamlining government
     and letting the markets work. But unlike some, I see no inherent
     struggle between my faith and the ability of science to improve our
     understanding of the world. The Creator gave me a brain, to think and
     reason, and react to facts on the ground. And I’m disillusioned,
     because some in my party are pro-science-denial, and on the wrong side
     of history.
 
Updated at 19:08 BST
17:22 BST
 
One of the most immediate effects of this year's record melt could be a 
spike in your gas bill, according to researchers in North America this 
week, who warn the "Arctic sea ice melt 'may bring harsh winter to 
Europe'". It's all to do with changes to the jet stream, which some 
people speculated could have been behind the UK's (largely) rubbish summer.
 
Here's why the Arctic could herald another cold winter. And yes, this is 
a 'could', 'may', etc story, for now.
 
     The unprecedented expanse of ice-free Arctic Ocean has been 
absorbing the 24-hour sun over the short polar summer. The heat in the 
water must be released into the atmosphere if the ice is to re-form this 
autumn. "This is like a new energy source for the atmosphere," said Francis.
 
     This heat and water vapour will affect the all-important jet stream 
– the west-to-east winds that are the boundary between cold Arctic and 
the warm mid-latitudes. Others researchers have already shown that the 
jet stream has been shifting northwards in recent years. Francis and 
colleagues have recently documented that the jet stream is also slowing 
down.
 
17:09 BST
 
Looking at this year's data, the NSIDC's Julienne Stroeve thinks the 
Arctic could be ice-free in summer as soon as two decades' time. Our 
head of environment, Damian Carrington, gives a sense on his blog of the 
consequences of an ice-free Arctic in summer:
 
     Will this be the first great tipping point to tumble the world into 
a new and hostile climate regime, as the cooling, reflective ice 
vanishes? Will the new, warm Arctic radically alter the temperate 
weather enjoyed by Europeans, for whom global warming has seemed a 
distant concern?
 
     We seem to be prepared to take that chance. The shrinking ice has 
not opened new leads for decisive global action to tackle climate 
change. Instead, in a vicious irony, the new channels are being 
exploited for oil and gas exploration, unearthing more of the very fuels 
driving the warming.
 
     Decades from now, will today's record sea ice low be seen as the 
moment when our Earthly paradise gave up the ghost and entered a hellish 
new era? I sincerely hope not, but with this global distress signal 
failing to attract attention, I fear the worst.
 
17:00 BST
 
Just to make clear – the official announcement on the record from the US 
NSIDC hasn't come yet. But we're expecting it as soon as Monday, if not 
earlier. Our US environment correspondent, Suzanne Goldenberg, is 
currently trying to find out from the centre when the formal news will drop.
 
In the meantime, if you want to dig into the details, you can head over 
to this spreadsheet of the NSIDC's raw near real-time data. It shows the 
ice extent increased ever so slightly on Wednesday and Thursday, 
indicating the Arctic sea ice might (with the emphasis might) be 
refreezing for the winter. If that's the case, the new record low is 
around 3.421m sq km, a long way below the previous record of 4.17m sq km 
in 2007.
 
The final record will be based on a 5 day average.
16:53 BST
 
Our environment editor, John Vidal, has been aboard Greenpeace's Arctic 
Sunrise vessel with some of the world's top ice experts, to document the 
'great melt of 2012'. Here is what Cambridge University Sea ice 
researcher Nick Toberg, who has analysed underwater ice thickness data 
collected by British nuclear submarine HMS Tireless in 2004 and 2007, 
told him about this year's figures:
 
     "This is staggering. It's disturbing, scary that we have physically 
changed the face of the planet. We have about 4m sq km of sea ice. If 
that goes in the summer months that's about the same as adding 20 years 
of CO2 at current [human-caused] rates into the atmosphere. That's how 
vital the Arctic sea ice is.
 
     "In the 1970s we had 8m sq km of sea ice. That has been halved. We 
need it in the summer. It has never decreased like this before".
 
You can read more of Vidal's blogposts from the Arctic here.
 
Updated at 16:58 BST
16:45 BST
 
To get a sense of just how much we've changed how the North Pole looks 
from space, take a look at this excellent interactive graphic by my 
colleague Paddy Allen, which shows the minimum just over three decades 
ago, and the ice extent at the start of this month. To say it's dramatic 
is an understatement.
16:41 BST
 
I've just had this reaction in from Ed Davey, the energy and climate 
secretary:
 
 
     “These findings highlight the urgency for the international 
community to act. We understand that Arctic sea-ice decline has 
accelerated over recent years as global warming continues to increase 
Arctic temperatures at a faster rate than the global average.
 
     “This Government is working hard to tackle climate change and we 
are working closely with our international partners not to exceed 2 
degrees above pre industrial levels. I am calling for the EU to increase 
its emission target from 20% to 30% and will be taking an active lead at 
the UNFCCC Climate change talks in Doha later this year, where I will 
push for further progress towards a new global deal on climate change 
and for more mitigation action now. The fact is that we cannot afford to 
wait”.
 
Apologies for the slightly jarring clash between the levity of the news 
and the cheery photo.
Ed Davey Energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey arrives in Downing 
Street last week after David Cameron's cabinet reshuffle. (Photo by 
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
 
Updated at 19:33 BST
16:23 BST
 
The extent of sea ice in the Arctic appears to have hit a new historic 
low. Here's the top of our news story:
 
     Sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its smallest extent ever 
recorded, smashing the previous record minimum and prompting warnings of 
accelerated climate change.
 
     Satellite images show that the rapid summer melt has reduced the 
area of frozen sea to less than 3.5m square kilometres this week – less 
than half the area typically occupied four decades ago.
 
     Arctic sea ice cover has been shrinking since the 1970s when it 
averaged around 8m sq km a year, but such a dramatic collapse in ice 
cover in one year is highly unusual.
 
This is a big moment for the planet, with potential knock-on effects for 
our weather system in Europe and a massive acceleration of climate 
change. I'll be scooping up reaction from scientists, politicians, 
environmentalists and others before handing over this liveblog to my US 
colleagues.
 
Arctic sea ice always melts in early summer and refreezes around 
September. But to get a sense of just how bad this year has been, take a 
look at this graph published in the last few hours by the most 
authoritative guide to the data, the US National Snow and Ice Data 
Centre (NSIDC). The thing that jumps out is how far this year (the blue 
line) is below the previous record (the green line), which "stunned" 
scientists when it was set in 2007.
 
     This is the US NSIDC's latest Arctic sea ice graph for Thursday's 
data. Looks like it's now refreezing after rec melt 
twitter.com/adamvaughan_uk
…
     — Adam Vaughan (@adamvaughan_uk) September 14, 2012
 
Updated at 16:35 BST
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/sep/14/sea-ice-climate-change
 
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Sostieni Rete ECO
 
http://rete-eco.it/it/sostienici.html
 
 

 Arctic sea ice hits record low: live updates and reaction
 
evviva, si potrà trivellare anche al polo nord!