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Of: TT
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Photo: Daniella Zalcman / Greenpeace
A surrogate on an ice floe off the coast of Greenland, September 2020.
Arctic sea ice hasn’t melted as heavily in a summer since satellite measurements began 42 years ago, with the exception of stormy 2012, according to the latest report from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center.
– Actually, I would say this is a new record level. It’s very close to the record low in 2012, which was an unusually extreme year with strong storms breaking up the sea ice, says Michael Tjernström, a climate researcher and professor of thin-layer meteorology at Stockholm University.
The record low in 2012, in turn, approached the previous record year of 2007, it adds.
– It was 2007 when we really opened our eyes to this and wondered if it could really be that bad with the ice in the Arctic. Since then, it has continued, no year after 2007 has had more ice than any year before 2007. That was the turning point, says Michael Tjernström.
Clear direction
But preferably you don’t want to talk about record levels. It is the long-term trend that is important, and while there are large variations from year to year, the direction is clear: Arctic sea ice is declining at a rapid rate, explains Michael Tjernström.
– Above all, it is the ice mass that disappears. It decreases significantly faster than the surface, as the ice becomes thinner and thinner. Although the entire Arctic basin still freezes over each winter, the new ice becomes thinner after years like this, making it a process built up over decades.
Earth’s cooling system
TT: What is the problem of ice shrinking in the Arctic?
– The Arctic, and also Antarctica, are the parts of the planet that counteract warming. Therefore, they play a crucial role in the Earth’s climate. Also, it’s about the people who live there. And about the animal species and biotopes that have nowhere to go other than the freezing climate, it is part of the biological diversity that is lost, says Michael Tjernström.
The US National Ice and Snow Data Center has been monitoring ice by satellite for more than 40 years. At this time of year, the extent of Arctic ice reaches its minimum, as the ice stops melting after the summer and freezes again when the winter cold returns.
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