SAD LOVE QUOTES: Global warming on course to melt record amount of Arctic ice in 2011, scientists warn

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Global warming on course to melt record amount of Arctic ice in 2011, scientists warn

A warm spell gripping the region has melted 46,000 square miles of ice EACH DAY so far in July

Last updated at 3:40 PM on 21st July 2011

Global warming fears were heightened today as it emerged that the Arctic is facing record levels of melting ice this year.

A warm spell gripping the region has melted a staggering 46,000 square miles of ice each day so far in July.

The vast amount is the same area as the state of Pennsylvania being lost every day, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado.

Disappearing: A satellite image taken from above Greenland shows a melting sheet of ice with limited protective cloud cover

If the same amount of melting continues throughout July it will be the fastest rate since records began in 1979.

'That's relatively fast,' NSIDC research scientist Julienne Stroeve told LiveScience.

'Unless things change in the next few weeks, we might have a new record for July.

'Certainly overall, we think the ice is thinner overall leading up to this season than it was in 2007.'

On July 17 this year, sea ice covered 2.92million square miles of the Arctic Ocean.

The amount of ice cover is currently 865,000 square miles below the 1979 to 2000 average. The previous fastest rate of melting ice was in 2007.

Researchers said that the melting and re-freezing of Arctic sea ice takes place with varying intensity each year.

In Autumn as Northern Hemisphere temperatures drop, ice extends outward away from the land to cover vast expanses of the ocean.

Iceberg: A warm spell has caused some 46,000 square miles of ice to melt into the Arctic sea every day, claim scientists

But in Spring as warmer weather arrived the ice begins to melt. Each year the actual amount of ice that re-forms in the Autumn has declined steadily.

Researchers discovered that this year the ice began to melt between two weeks and two months earlier than usual, signalling a greater overall amount of melting ice for the entire year.

The measurements took place in the Chukchi Sea, near Alaska, the Barents, Kara and Laptev Seas, near Finland and Russia.

It is believed that the melting ice has been caused by warm spells sweeping across the Northern Hemisphere.

Forecasters have recorded high pressure over the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, since June, which has brought warmer temperatures to the entire Arctic.

The high pressure has seen temperatures at the North Pole to reach 6C to 8C (11F to 14F) hotter than average.

Stroeve said that clearer skies over the Arctic have also allowed the sun's rays to bake the sheets of ice which are usually protected by thick cloud cover.

The ice expert added that cooler temperatures for the rest of July could decrease the rate at which the ice is melting.

'It's too early to say we're going to have a new record low but I would say it's certainly possible with the way things have been going,' he added.