New research indicates that summer Arctic Sea ice could soon become a relic of the past. Temperatures today mirror those of 10,000 years ago, when similar conditions led to the melting of this ice. The potential disappearance of this ice could have profound effects on both the climate and ecosystems
and the United States Geological Survey, has managed to analyze samples from the previously unreachable region located north of Greenland.
“Climate models have suggested that summer sea ice in this region will melt in the coming decades, but it’s uncertain if it will happen in 20, 30, 40 years, or more. This project has demonstrated that we’re very close to this scenario and that temperatures only have to increase a little before the ice will melt,” says Christof Pearce, Assistant Professor at the Department of Geoscience,The researchers have used data from the Early Holocene period to predict when the sea ice will melt today.
“The sea ice is a base for many ecosystems. The algae we examined are food for fish, fish are food for birds, etc. How will the marine ecosystems be affected globally if the sea ice disappears? We don’t know the answer yet,” says Henrieka Detlef, an assistant professor at the Department of Geoscience.
“The bad news is that we can see this happening very soon. The good news is that our data shows the trend is reversible and we can do something about it if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions and set ambitious political goals. If we can keep temperatures stable or perhaps even make them fall, the sea ice would return to the area,” says Henrieka Detlef.
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