Even if greenhouse gas emissions can be significantly reduced, the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer months by 2030. This means Arctic sea ice may have melted before, researchers concluded in Nature Communications on Tuesday. Ten years later than originally expected.
The UN Climate Panel has already shown that by 2050 Arctic summer sea ice will almost completely disappear in scenarios where greenhouse gas emissions continue as they do today, further warming the Earth. The team of researchers, including those from South Korea and Germany, are using satellite data to show that even with lower emissions, September could become ice-free after 2030.
The researchers’ measurement data confirmed that at the end of summer, in September, there is generally less sea ice in the Arctic. They also note that sea ice has decreased every September since 2000.
According to the researchers, one should prepare for the Arctic to be ice-free every summer for the foreseeable future. It could have significant impacts on communities and ecosystems “inside and beyond the Arctic”.
“This is the first major part of the land that we will lose to climate change,” says Professor Dirk Notts of the University of Hamburg in the British newspaper “The Guardian”. He is one of the authors of the study. It seems that “the people did not listen to our warnings.” He points out that scientists have been warning for decades that sea ice in the Arctic might disappear in the summer.
Unlimited free access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.
