Global warming and climate change imply the emergence of a “New Arctic”
According to a recent study, published on Nature.com, the Arctic’s landscape is changing due to global warming: for this reason, experts are talking about a “new Arctic”.
Sea ice volume has decreased by 31% since 1979, as a
matter of fact. As stated by the researchers and co-authors of the study Laura
Landrum and Marika Holland, from the National Center for Atmospheric Research
in Colorado, if global temperatures keep increasing, other features of the Arctic
climate – such as rainfall patterns and air temperatures – could deeply change,
“signaling a transition to a new climate” (Landrum – E&E News).
The researchers analyzed how the Arctic climate has
changed in the last century, to predict what changes may occur in the future.
They discovered that sea ice has already been shrinking over the past few
decades, and it can only get worse: by 2070, summer sea ice volume will
decrease below 1 million square kilometers, the point at which scientists would
consider the Arctic Ocean “ice free”.
If we consider that sea ice has a deep impact on the
temperatures, as it reflects sunlight and traps the heat below the ocean’s
surface, a thinning of sea ice implies a warmer atmosphere and consequently a
transition of snow to rain.
According to the study, if temperatures
keep rising this fast, the “new Arctic” will emerge by the end of the century. This
will result in devastating consequences for the Arctic ecosystem and human
communities: in fact, there would be a transformation of the animal species
inhabiting the territory and hunting and fishing by sea ice would become
difficult.
Even infrustructure planning would face
some difficulties, as nobody can predict what will happen and, accordingly, how
to adapt to the landscape changes.
What is evident is that we necessarily
need to act today to prevent an inevitable disaster tomorrow.
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