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Arctic could be free of summer sea ice by 2030
As the minimum area of summer Arctic sea-ice extent was today reported to have plummeted to the third-lowest level ever in recorded history [1], the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise is hosting world-class sea ice expert Dr. Peter Wadhams, on a mission to conduct research into sea-ice loss in the Arctic Ocean, off the northeast coast of Greenland.
"We're entering a new epoch of sea ice melt in the Arctic Ocean
due to climate change," said Dr. Peter Wadhams. "In five years'
time most of the sea-ice could be gone in summer with just an
'Alamo of ice' remaining north of Ellesmere Island. In 20 years'
time, that will also be gone, leaving the Arctic Ocean completely
ice-free in summer. It's clear we can't rely on current models of
prediction for sea-ice melt, as they have been constantly outpaced
since the 1980s."
Wadhams, of the University of Cambridge, is leading a team of
five independent scientists who plan to use buoys moored to
pressured ice, ice cores and a number of other methods to calculate
the melt rate of ridged ice, a feature that accounts for over half
the volume of ice in the Arctic Ocean and which is disappearing
fast as a consequence of climate change, in order to answer the
question of why it is melting faster than non-ridged ice. The
Arctic Sunrise will be working in the sea-ice of Fram Strait,
between Greenland and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, until
the end of the month supporting Wadhams' sea ice research.
Sea-ice extent has been in decline for the last 30 years, but
the speed of that decline has accelerated in the last decade and
especially so in the last four years, outpacing scientific
predictions. In 2007, the area of summer sea-ice extent reached a
level that was not predicted to occur until 2080, with 2008 coming
in a close second. While this year's low sea-ice extent did not
surpass those of 2007 and 2008, it does suggest another significant
acceleration of sea-ice melt in the Arctic Ocean.
"This puts U.S. policy on very thin ice," said Damon Moglen,
Global Warming Campaign Director for Greenpeace in the U.S. "With
global warming advancing even more quickly than expected, President
Obama needs to lead a far more ambitious, science-based response to
the climate crisis."
"Another record year of melting sea-ice makes for another
deafening alarm about the state of the world's climate," said
Melanie Duchin, Expedition Leader on board the Greenpeace ship
Arctic Sunrise. "World leaders must heed this alarm and forge an
agreement that takes bold, ambitious and decisive action at the
upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen this December."
"What's needed is a 40 percent cut in greenhouse gases by 2020
on the part of developed countries; they also need to invest $140
billion per year to help developing countries deal with the impacts
of climate change, stop deforestation and switch to a low carbon
economy. To do anything less is to ignore the warnings we're seeing
in the Arctic and elsewhere that tell us that the climate is in
serious peril."
VVPR info: Contact: Jane Kochersperger, Media Officer, Greenpeace U.S.A., + 1 202 319 2493 direct; + 1 202 680 3798 cell, jane.kochersperger@greenpeace.org
Photo and video are available from:
Photo Desk: Bob Meyers, bob.meyers@greenpeace.org
http://usaphoto.greenpeace.org/20090917SeaIce_Release/
Video Desk: Marcos Davalos, marcos.davalos@greenpeace.org
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/video-previews
Notes: [1] The sea ice minimum extent was announced by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). According to the NSIDC,
"Arctic sea ice appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest extent since the start of satellite measurements in 1979. While this year's minimum extent is above the record and near-record minimums of the last two years, it further reinforces the strong negative trend in summertime ice extent observed over the past thirty years." For more: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
Professor Peter Wadhams, Head of Polar Ocean Physics Group, University of Cambridge (onboard)
Melanie Duchin, Onboard Campaigner, Greenpeace U.S. based in Alaska (onboard)
Kieran Mulvaney, Expedition Leader, Greenpeace International (onshore)
Damon Moglen, Global Warming Campaign Director, U.S.A.
Interviews with the ship can be conducted by satellite phone.