Showing posts with label arctic ice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arctic ice. Show all posts

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Arctic ice acts to sequester carbon dioxide.

by shpilk

Pending disappearance of Arctic ice has one more knock on effect.
Complete article quoted, as it's a 'media release'.

Potential implication of Arctic ice loss becomes more dire with each passing bit of data I seem to find.

http://www.sams.ac.uk/...

Media release 17 September 2009

Arctic sea ice pumps 50% more carbon dioxide into the oceans

Arctic sea ice plays a critical and hitherto unknown role in the removal of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, as revealed in a study just published by an international research team that includes Prof. Ronnie Glud of SAMS.

The Nordic Seas have some of the highest uptake rates of carbon dioxide in the global ocean. Prior to this study, the mechanism by which the CO2 is absorbed into the ocean was believed to be driven largely by biological draw-down: micro-organisms remove inorganic carbon compounds from the water column, encouraging more CO2 to dissolve from the atmosphere.



continued at Daily Kos....

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Inexorable melting of Arctic continues

by shpilk

June 8, 2010 Arctic sea ice extent declines rapidly in May In May, Arctic air temperatures remained above average, and sea ice extent declined at a rapid pace. At the end of the month, extent fell near the level recorded in 2006, the lowest in the satellite record for the end of May. Analysis from scientists at the University of Washington suggests that ice volume has continued to decline compared to recent years. However, it is too soon to say whether Arctic ice extent will reach another record low this summer—that will depend on the weather and wind conditions over the next few months. map from space showing sea ice extent, continentsFigure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for May 2010 was 13.10 million square kilometers (5.06 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1979 to 2000 median extent for that month. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. Sea Ice Index data. About the data. —Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center

continued at Daily Kos....