Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 14 december 2017

Arctic report card: Permafrost thawing at a faster pace

By SETH BORENSTEIN ing at rates not seen in the
AP Science Writer 1,500 years. And those dra-
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Per- matic changes coincide
mafrost in the Arctic is with the large increase in
thawing at a faster clip, carbon dioxide levels in
according to a new report the air from the burning of
released Tuesday. oil, gas and coal, the re-
port said.
Water is also warming and This isn’t just a concern for
sea ice is melting at the the few people who live
fastest pace in 1,500 years north of the Arctic Circle.
at the top of the world. Changes in the Arctic
The annual report released can alter fish supply. And
Tuesday by the National more ice-free Arctic sum-
Oceanic and Atmospher- mers can lead to countries
ic Administration showed competing to exploit new
slightly less warming in areas for resources. Re-
many measurements than search also shows changes
a record hot 2016. But sci- in Arctic sea ice and tem-
entists remain concerned perature can alter the jet
because the far northern stream, which is a major
region is warming twice as factor in U.S. weather.
fast as the rest of the globe This is probably partly re-
and has reached a level sponsible for the current
of warming that’s unprec- unusual weather in the
edented in modern times. United States that brought
“2017 continued to show us In an Aug, 16, 2005 file photo, an iceberg melts in Kulusuk, Greenland near the arctic circle. destructive wildfires to Cali-
we are on this deepening Associated Press fornia and a sharp cold
trend where the Arctic is a snap to the South and
very different place than it the Earth’s surface in frigid sured in North America, ice normally grows. It was East, according to NOAA
was even a decade ago,” areas. Records show the said study co-author Vladi- the third straight year of re- scientist James Overland
said Jeremy Mathis, head frozen ground that many mir Romanovsky, a profes- cord low winter sea ice re- and private meteorologist
of NOAA’s Arctic research buildings, roads and pipe- sor at the University of Alas- covery. Records go back expert Judah Cohen.
program and co-author of lines are built on reached ka in Fairbanks. to 1979.
the 93-page report. record warm tempera- Arctic sea ice usually About 79 percent of the “The Arctic has traditionally
Findings were discussed at tures last year nearing and shrinks in September and Arctic sea ice is thin and been the refrigerator to the
the American Geophysical sometimes exceeding the this year it was only the only a year old. In 1985, 45 planet, but the door of the
Union meeting in New Or- thawing point. That could eighth lowest on record for percent of the sea ice in refrigerator has been left
leans. make them vulnerable the melting season. But sci- the Arctic was thick, older open,” Mathis said.
“What happens in the Arc- when the ground melts entists said they were most ice, said NOAA Arctic sci- Outside scientists praised
tic doesn’t stay in the Arc- and shifts, the report said. concerned about what entist Emily Osborne. the report card.
tic; it affects the rest of the Unlike other readings, per- happens in the winter — New research looking into “Overall, the new data fit
planet,” said acting NOAA mafrost data tend to lag a especially March — when the Arctic’s past using ice with the long-term trends,
chief Timothy Gallaudet. year. sea ice is supposed to be cores, fossils, corals and showing the clear evi-
“The Arctic has huge in- Preliminary reports from the building to its highest levels. shells as stand-ins for tem- dence of warming caus-
fluence on the world at U.S. and Canada in 2017 Arctic winter sea ice maxi- perature measurements ing major changes,” in the
large.” showed permafrost tem- mum levels in 2017 were show that Arctic ocean Arctic, said Pennsylvania
Permafrost is the perma- peratures are “again the the smallest they’ve ever temperatures are rising State University ice scientist
nently frozen layer below warmest for all sites” mea- been for the season when and sea ice levels are fall- Richard Alley.q