Arctic Sea Ice at Record Low October Levels: Danish Institute

Sea ice in the Arctic was at record lows in October, as unusual warm waters hindered the recovery of ice, Danish researchers said Wednesday.

Decreasing sea ice is a reminder of how the Arctic is especially hard hit by global warming, reports AFP.

Since the 1990s, warming has been twice as fast in the Arctic, compared to the rest of the world, as a phenomena dubbed “Arctic amplification,” causes air, ice and water to interact in a reinforcing manner.

“The October Arctic sea ice extent is going to be the lowest on record and the sea ice growth rate is slower than normal,” Rasmus Tonboe, a scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI), told AFP, noting that the record was unequalled for at least 40 years.

According to preliminary satellite data used by the institute, the region covered by sea ice was 6.5 million square kilometers (2.5 million square miles) on 27 October.

In summer, some of the ice formed in the Arctic waters melts.

It normally hits a low point of about five million square kilometers, but is then reshaped to cover about 15 million square kilometers in winter. Warmer temperatures are now reducing the ice in both summer and winter.

Since 1979, satellite data has been collected to track the ice precisely, and there is a strong trend towards reduction.

Measurements indicate an 8.2 percent downward trend in ice over the last 10 years for the month of October.

Already in September, researchers noted the second lowest level of sea ice recorded in the Arctic, although it did not exceed the low levels recorded in 2012.

But warmer-than-normal seawater slowed down the creation of new ice in October. – 'The vicious circle' –

Water temperatures in the eastern part of the Arctic, north of Siberia, were two to four degrees warmer than average, and in Baffin Bay, one to two degrees warmer, DMI said in a statement.

The institute said this was following a trend observed in recent years, which was described as a “vicious spiral.”

“It’s a trend we’ve been seeing the past years, with a longer open water season making the sun warm the sea for a longer time, resulting in shorter winters so the ice doesn’t grow as thick as it used to,” Tonboe said.

Since the melting ice is already in the ocean it does not directly contribute to the rise in sea levels.

But as the ice disappears sunlight “gets absorbed in the ocean, helping to further warm the Earth,” Claire Parkinson, a climate scientist at NASA, told AFP in September.

Thus, with less ice reflecting sunlight, oceans are heated directly.

Over the last 40 years, the Arctic has also become more of strategic interest to world powers.

Less ice in some areas has opened up new maritime routes that are destined to play a larger role in international trade, ensuring a greater financial stake for Arctic state actors.

The area is also projected to house 13 per cent of the world's oil reserves and 30 per cent of uncovered natural gas reserves.

Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) said Tuesday that under current levels of atmospheric CO2 — roughly 400 parts per million — the melting of Arctic sea ice would raise global temperatures by 0.2C.

That’s on top of the 1.5C of warming our current emissions levels have rendered all but inevitable, and the safer cap on global warming aimed for in the Paris climate accord.