Download Impact Poster: Sea Ice Loss

Impacts of Climate Change: Sea Ice Loss
Christian Klima, Madeline Metcalfe, Peter Wink, Claire Witting
CPSG101 Science & Global Change First Year Colloquium II
April 19, 2016
Introduction
Sea ice loss affects wildlife in the
Arctic like seals, walrus, and polar
bears. With their natural habitat
melting, these animals could go
extinct if the ice continues to melt.
Sea Ice loss is one of the effects of global warming,
as the increased surface temperatures of the planet
lead to the melting of ice in the arctic sea. The
impacts of this affect the animals living in that
biome as well as worldwide trade and weather
patterns.
The yellow line is the average minimum
sea ice extent over the past 30 years.
The minimums were historically even
larger than the yellow line (because it’s
an average)
The reflectivity, or albedo, of Ice is much higher than
that of water, so as the ice melts more heat is
absorbed by the water that is now on the surface
where the ice had been. As this water absorbs more
heat it adds to the effect of melting the sea ice,
resulting in a positive feedback loop. (2)
Transportation around
the globe will be
affected by sea ice loss in
that sea routes will open
up more to travel. This
will be especially helpful
for increasing year-round
travel, whereas yearround travel would be
much more difficult if
there were a larger
amount of sea ice. (3)
Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Sea ice has been in a declining trend and
will most likely continue to decline in
future years. Although during some years,
it may increase, IT IS STILL SHRINKING!
Maritime accessibility for four shipping routes
at baseline (2000–2014) and mid-century
(2045–2059) (Type A vessels, July—September)
Route
Length (km)
% accessible,
2000–2014
% accessible,
2045–2059
Accessibility change (%)
relative to baseline
Transit
time
(days),
2045–
2059
Northwest
Passage
9,324
63%
82%
30%
-
Northern Sea
Route
5,169
86%
100%
16%
11
‘North Pole’
Route
6,960
64%
100%
56%
16
‘Arctic Bridge’
7,135
100%
100%
0%
15
The melting of sea ice reduced
salinity in the northern parts of the
Atlantic, which lowers the density of
the water. This counteracts the usual
current of warm water moving north
and cooling as it is in the North
Atlantic, which normally makes it
become more dense and sink. If this
cycle is slowed then the warm water
won’t come up towards the North
Atlantic and then western Europe will
become much colder.
Bibliography:
1 Screen, James A., Clara Deser, and Lantao Sun. 2015. "Projected changes in regional climate extremes arising from Arctic sea ice loss." Environmental Research Letters 10.8. doi:
084006
2 Curry, J. A. and Schramm J. L. 15 June 1974. "Sea Ice-Albedo Feedback Mechanism." Journal of Climate. Accessed 29 March 2016
3 Agnew, John A., Laurence C. Smith, Scott R. Stephenson. 2011. Divergent long-term trajectories of human access to the Arctic. Nature Climate Change 1: 156-160. Doi:
10.1038/nclimate1120