After the (only) images of dead bears appeared in 2004, Arctic ice continued to decline.
Arctic ice helps regulate and temper the climate in many other parts of the world.
CNN: Polar bears resort to cannibalism as Arctic ice shrinks
For example, the last record Arctic ice low was set on September 18, 2007.
As the Earth warms, researchers believe the Arctic ice will thaw and become thinner.
CNN: Nature - Satellite sees through Arctic ice for signs of climate change
We do know that the Arctic ice cap is melting faster than was predicted even five years ago.
New research shows that over the past decade, the volume of Arctic ice has declined, even during the winter.
Information about Arctic Ice combining satellite data and national observation efforts is reported in near real time through this system.
Since the 1950s, submarines have measured the thickness of Arctic ice in specific places but never for the entire region.
CNN: Nature - Satellite sees through Arctic ice for signs of climate change
The U.S. says that shrinking Arctic ice habitat, a product of a warming climate, puts polar bear populations in a precarious position.
This confirms predictions of earlier computer models and demonstrates that rising temperatures will be affecting sea levels due to Arctic ice melt.
Information on Arctic Ice research can be found at The International Arctic Climate System Study, a global consortium of polar scientists.
By August 9, 1923 the situation had become desperate, prompting the Chicago Tribune to declare "Scientists Say Arctic Ice Will Wipe Out Canada".
This continues a steady decline in Arctic ice volumes since 1980, as you can see in the chart below from the University of Washington.
This phenomenon, called Arctic amplification, occurs as highly reflective Arctic ice and snow melt away, allowing dark land and exposed ocean to absorb more sunlight.
CNN: Warmest Arctic temperatures for 2,000 years, says new study
Further, they suggested that this would increase as arctic ice decreased.
The word "unprecedented" is often misused in terms of Arctic ice.
Researchers are using a nuclear submarine to take them beneath the Arctic ice cap to study ocean currents that may have an effect on global climate.
CNN: Nuclear sub dives under the ice to explore climate change
Apparently, the decisive argument will be that only transnational bureaucrats will be able to contend with the implications of the melting Arctic ice caps induced by global warming.
Further loss of Arctic ice will see radiation absorbed by darker seawater and snow-free land, potentially warming the Earth's climate at an even faster rate than current observational data indicates.
Melting Arctic ice poses serious concerns globally, but it has also opened northern sea lanes for the first time, as well as the opportunity to search for new natural resource deposits.
In addition to findings of lower ice volumes in Autumn and Winter, a new paper from researchers at the University of Washington has confirmed that Arctic ice melts during the summer is also accelerating.
Retreating Arctic ice is considered a key indicator of the pace of global warming by environmentalists, and one that could have devastating knock-on repercussions for the wider climate, including warmer oceans and rising sea levels.
It is open only for about five months of the year, from late June to November or early December, and requires icebreakers to cut a path through the Arctic ice for specially strengthened oil and gas carriers.
For the Arctic ice melt to make sense, all you have to do is watch this YouTube video, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which shows the puny extent of sea ice in 2012 compared with the historical average.
They also look very similar to the simulations coming out of Piomas (Pan-Arctic Ice-Ocean Modelling and Assimilation System), an influential computer model that has been used to estimate Arctic sea-ice volume and which has been the basis for several predictions about when summer sea ice might disappear completely.
According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic sea ice is melting faster than its average over the 1979 t0 2000 period.
FORBES: On Romney's 'Rising Oceans', Time To Get A Bigger Boat
Last month, scientists at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center said Arctic summer ice was almost 30% below the long-term average, and predicted 2007 would show the lowest ice cover on record.
BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | US predicts polar bear meltdown
Credit: National Snow and Ice Data CenterThe graph above shows daily Arctic sea ice extent as of March 22, 2011, along with daily ice extents for 2006, which had the previous lowest maximum extent, and 2007, the year with the lowest minimum extent in September.
Today, the National Snow and Ice Data Center, in conjunction with NASA, announced today that Arctic sea ice has reached a record low since the previous record-breaking low in 2007.
应用推荐