Rapid decline in Arctic ice
Thursday, June 19th, 2008On Tuesday, Brian from Larvatus Prodeo posted 7 graphs showing the incredibly rapid decline in Arctic ice last year. It beats all other extremes that have been recorded already, and shows how close we are to the point of no return.
Scientists previously predicted that the Arctic ice-cap would be no longer there during summertime by 2040, but have now revised that date to 2012. When it’s gone, we’re looking at faster sea-level rises and changed weather patterns with a knock-on effect around the world.
I was struck by the comment from one of the NASA climate scientists, Jay Zwally, as quoted in the National Geographic article Arctic Sea Ice Gone in Summer Within 5 Years (and quoted by Brian as well)
“The Arctic is often cited as the canary in the coal mine for climate warming,” said Zwally, who as a teenager hauled coal. “Now as a sign of climate warming, the canary has died. It is time to start getting out of the coal mines.”
Brian’s article Trouble at the top of the world shows just how bad the damage is getting. He’s going to post more articles explaining the issue, and is encouraging people to send them to any policy-makers they know. Please read it, and send a link to it to anyone who you think needs to know more about what’s going on.