Arctic sea ice appears to have reached its minimum extent for the 2012 melt season at a mere 3.41 million square kilometers (1.32 million square miles), shattering previously held minimum extent records and reinforcing the long-term downward trend in Arctic ice extent
(Bloomberg) — Arctic sea ice on Sept. 16 shrank to its lowest ever in a satellite record stretching back 33 years, according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Sea-ice cover shrank to 3.41 million square kilometers (1.32 million square miles), 18 percent less than the previous record from 2007, Boulder, Colorado-based NSIDC said today in an e-mailed statement.
The shrinking Arctic ice cap is one of the most visible signs of climate change, according to NSIDC Director Mark Serreze.
“While we’ve long known that, as the planet warms up, changes would be seen first and be most pronounced in the Arctic, few of us were prepared for how rapidly the changes would actually occur,” Serreze said in the statement. “We are now in uncharted territory.”
Coverage melted to 4.17 million square kilometers in September 2007. The average annual minimum area from 1979 to 2010 was 6.29 million square kilometers.
Sea ice melts every summer and typically begins freezing again in September. The Sept. 16 figure will probably be the low point for this year, NSIDC said. The research agency uses five- day averages to calculate measurements to account for day-to-day anomalies.
-By Alex Morales and Justin Doom. Copyright 2012 Bloomberg.
The above graph shows Arctic sea ice extent as of September 17, 2012, along with daily ice extent data for 2007 and 2005, the previous record low years. 2012 is shown in blue and 2007 in green. The gray area around the average line shows the two standard deviation range of the data. Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
By Yimou Lee TAIPEI, March 7 (Reuters) – China has stepped up grey-zone warfare against Taiwan, aiming to make the areas around the democratic island “saturated” with balloons, drones and civilian boats,...
Austal USA has kicked off plans to construct a new manufacturing facility, marking a significant expansion of its shipyard capacity in Mobile, Alabama in support of U.S. Navy and Coast...
Oldendorff and Norsepower have announced an agreement to install three Norsepower Rotor Sails™ on board a modern bulk carrier to reduce its emissions. The vessel, Dietrich Oldendorff, will be equipped...
February 5, 2024
Total Views: 838
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.