The region has the lowest amount of sea ice as a result of the “crazy year” in the Arctic, scientists said Monday.
Researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center said the minimum probability was reached on Sept. 15, with 1.44 million square miles of ocean in ice. Since then, coverage has been increasing as temperatures have dropped and new ice has formed.
Since satellite measurements of ocean ice began four decades ago, there was only a minimum reduction in 2012, when 1.32 million square miles were measured. The 2020 minimum was about one million square miles lower than the average annual minimum between 1981 and 2010.
This year, too, a worrying streak continues: the last 14 years have seen at least 14 ice years. Many scientists expect the Arctic to be free of ice in the summer before the Middle Ages.
“It’s been a crazy year in the north, with record low temperatures in Siberia, 100 degree temperature waves and massive forest fires,” said Mark Serez, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. . “We’re heading to the seasonal ice-free Arctic Ocean, and there’s another nail in the coffin this year.”
Arctic sea ice rises to its maximum during autumn and winter and then melts during spring and summer. The maximum this year, 9.9 million square miles, was reached in early March.
The researchers noted that since it is every year, their minimum announcement was early: a brief warm spell or a moving wind could bring more melting. It has happened twice in this century.
Temperatures have risen in much of the Arctic this summer. In late June, Siberia was surrounded by a zone of stagnant air that continued to warm. This led to record temperatures: 100 degrees Fahrenheit reached one day in Varkhoyansk, Russia, 400 miles north of Ercosa, Alaska, Russia.
Sea ice is shrinking by more than 13 percent per decade compared to the 1981-2010 average, as global warming affects the Arctic more than any other part of the world. The area heats up twice as fast as anyone else.
The loss of sea ice plays a role in this rapid warming. Snow reflects most of the sunlight that will strike it. But when it melts, more oceans open up. The surface of the ocean is darker and absorbs more of the sun’s rays, re-generating energy. This leads to higher temperatures and the loss of ice, a process that scientists call a reaction loop.
