Walt Meier Research Scientist, Cryospheric Sciences Lab, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Specialties: Sea ice remote sensing;
changes in sea ice concentration, extent, motion, thickness and age; development of sea ice climate data records; interaction of sea ice and climate
Not exact matches
The researchers warn, however, that the future evolution of the AMO remains uncertain, with many factors potentially affecting how it interacts with atmospheric circulation patterns, such as Arctic
sea ice loss,
changes in solar radiation, volcanic eruptions and
concentrations of greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere.
Changes in the winds around Antarctica therefore
change ice -
concentration trends around Antarctica [8] by influencing
sea -
ice production and melt rates [9].
Acidity decline
in Antarctic
ice cores during the Little Ice Age linked to changes in atmospheric nitrate and sea salt concentratio
ice cores during the Little
Ice Age linked to changes in atmospheric nitrate and sea salt concentratio
Ice Age linked to
changes in atmospheric nitrate and
sea salt
concentrations.
your evidence for Arctic
ice concentration similar
in extent or lower than current is 1) your personal experience 2) a 1952 ecyclopedia entry describing
changing sea ice cover for one region of the Arctic.
This finding is consistent with the expected effect of increasing greenhouse gas
concentrations and with other observed evidence of a
changing climate such as reductions
in Arctic
sea ice extent, melting permafrost, rising
sea levels, and increases
in heavy downpours and heat waves.
Alarmed at the pace of
change to our Earth caused by human - induced climate
change, including accelerating melting and loss of
ice from Greenland, the Himalayas and Antarctica, acidification of the world's oceans due to rising CO2
concentrations, increasingly intense tropical cyclones, more damaging and intense drought and floods, including glacial lakes outburst loods,
in many regions and higher levels of
sea - level rise than estimated just a few years ago, risks
changing the face of the planet and threatening coastal cities, low lying areas, mountainous regions and vulnerable countries the world over,
The papers questioned everything from the relative role of natural mechanisms
in changes to the climate system vis - à - vis increased CO2
concentrations, the allegedly «unprecedented» nature of modern climate phenomena such as warming,
sea levels, glacier and
sea ice retreat, and the efficacy and reliability of computer climate models for projecting future climate states.
WMO will issue its full Statement on the State of the Climate
in 2017
in March which will provide a comprehensive overview of temperature variability and trends, high - impact events, and long - term indicators of climate
change such as increasing carbon dioxide
concentrations, Arctic and Antarctic
sea ice,
sea level rise and ocean acidification.
With global GHG emissions and
concentrations continuing to increase; with climate
change intensifying
changes in ecosystems,
ice sheet deterioration, and
sea level rise; and with fossil fuels providing more than 80 % of the world's energy, the likelihood seems low that cooperative actions will prevent increasingly disruptive climate
change over the next several decades.
Determining the mechanisms and feedbacks involved
in climate
change at the end of the last
ice age therefore requires an understanding of the relationship between the southern margin
ice retreat and connected meltwater events to atmospheric and
sea surface temperatures,
ice - rafting Heinrich events,
sea level rise, and atmospheric greenhouse gas
concentrations.
The researchers found a «pronounced
change» towards very low
sea ice concentration in the two
seas since 2004.
The animation below of the
sea ice concentration chart from Cryosphere Today shows
changes in ice distribution from 31 December 2010 to 22 March 2011
in 5 day steps.
Possible increases
in storm intensity, rising
sea levels, and
changes in ice duration and
concentration, are projected to increase the severity of negative impacts progressively, particularly by mid-century (Forbes et al., 2004).
The vulnerable nations declared that they are, «Alarmed at the pace of
change to our Earth caused by human - induced climate
change, including accelerating melting and loss of
ice from Greenland, the Himalayas and Antarctica, acidification of the world's oceans due to rising CO2
concentrations, increasingly intense tropical cyclones, more damaging and intense drought and floods, including Glacial Lakes Outburst Floods,
in many regions and higher levels of
sea - level rise than estimated just a few years ago, risks
changing the face of the planet and threatening coastal cities, low lying areas, mountainous regions and vulnerable countries the world over...»
The IPCC 2007 Fourth Assessment of climate
change science concluded that large reductions
in the emissions of greenhouse gases, principally CO2, are needed soon to slow the increase of atmospheric
concentrations, and avoid reaching unacceptable levels.However, climate
change is happening even faster than previously estimated; global CO2 emissions since 2000 have been higher than even the highest predictions, Arctic
sea ice has been melting at rates much faster than predicted, and the rise
in the
sea level has become more rapid.
Higher methane
concentrations in the atmosphere will accelerate global warming and hasten local
changes in the Arctic, speeding up
sea -
ice retreat, reducing the reflection of solar energy and accelerating the melting of the Greenland
ice sheet.
Sea ice concentration, which is independently measured and well observed by passive microwave satellite sensors, gives additional important information on
changes in the Antarctic environment.
Kaleschke and Halfmann; 4.9 million square kilometers; Statistical Our forecast has not
changed from last month, but we describe
in our report what we would have done differently if we would have recent
sea ice concentration data.
The trends
in sea ice concentration, expressed as fractional
change per decade are plotted
in Fig. 3 with the sign inverted with respect to the sign of the temperature trends.
Presenting such alternative figures confuses and undermines the public understanding of the actual science, which is an understanding about the driving mechanisms of
sea level rise: thermal expansion of ocean water, melting of mountain glaciers and complex dynamics of large
ice sheets —
in correspondence again with projected temperature rise, that is
in turn a product of projected rises of greenhouse gas
concentrations using calculated estimates of climate sensitivity, together creating a net disturbance
in Earth's energy balance, the very root cause of anthropogenic climate
change.
Scientific confidence of the occurrence of climate
change include, for example, that over at least the last 50 years there have been increases
in the atmospheric
concentration of CO2; increased nitrogen and soot (black carbon) deposition;
changes in the surface heat and moisture fluxes over land; increases
in lower tropospheric and upper ocean temperatures and ocean heat content; the elevation of
sea level; and a large decrease
in summer Arctic
sea ice coverage and a modest increase
in Antarctic
sea ice coverage.
Consider, for example, that Lowe, et al. [
in Avoiding Dangerous Climate
Change, H.J. Schellnhuber et al. (eds), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006, p. 32 - 33], based on a «pessimistic, but plausible, scenario
in which atmospheric carbon dioxide
concentrations were stabilised at four times pre-industrial levels,» estimated that a collapse of the Greenland
Ice Sheet would over the next 1,000 years raise
sea level by 2.3 meters (with a peak rate of 0.5 mm / yr).
Easterbrook criticized Gore's claims that the melting of
ice sheets
in Greenland and Antarctica could lead to substantial increases
in sea levels, that the
concentration of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere is increasing, and that Bush administration officials have attempted to tamper with official reports on the threat posed by climate
change.