NASA imaging demonstrates that Arctic ice is having a dual setback over the recent years. The oldest and thickest ice is melting away and as per data collected by climate scientists, the reason behind this melting of Arctic ice was entirely air temperatures which were unusually warm over much of the Arctic.
NASA illustrated the Arctic ice from 1984 till the present day to elucidate the change. The visualization shows that while the ice can change significantly from year to year, the total amount of ice has relentlessly decreased over the past 32 years.
Moreover, there are weather systems that form on a week-to-week basis, hence the ice isn’t moving at a consistent rate.
As we’ve lost most of the older ice which was like the protection strategy of the Arctic Ocean ice pack and if we keep on losing it, the probability for a largely ice-free summer in the Arctic may increase.
In September, Arctic sea ice had hit its annual summertime minimum which was the second-lowest extent since satellite record-keeping started. Likewise for the first two weeks of October, Arctic sea ice has expanded however not exactly a third its average growth rate from 1981 to 2010. While ice growth picked up a bit in the latter half of the month, overall, October 2016 concluded as the poorest Arctic sea ice showing on record.
Image Credit: blogs.dw.com