Arctic ice drops to 2nd lowest level

The Associated Press

Arctic Ocean sea ice has melted to the second lowest minimum since satellite observations began, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Sea ice melt recorded Aug. 25 exceeded the low recorded in 2005, which had held second place.

With several weeks left in the melt season, ice in summer 2008 has a chance to diminish below the record low set last year, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center, based at the University of Colorado, reported the ice Aug. 25 melted below the 2005 minimum of 2.05 million square miles set on Sept. 21 that year.

Through the beginning of the melt season in May until early August, daily ice extent for 2008 closely tracked the values for 2005, the center said.

In early August 2005, the decline began to slow. In August 2008, however, the decline has remained steadily downward at a brisk pace.

The most recent ice retreat primarily reflects melt in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast and the East Siberian Seas off the coast of eastern Russia, according to the center.

Continued downward spiral

Christopher Krenz, Arctic project manager for Oceana, said the announcement Aug. 26 showed that last year’s record low sea ice was not an anomaly. As ice covers fewer square miles of ocean, he said, warming will accelerate.

“It’s going to accelerate climate change through changes in the reflectance of the Arctic,” he said. “It’s going from bright ice to a much darker ocean.”

More square miles of dark ocean will absorb more heat. More warmth will accelerate melting of Arctic permafrost, allowing organic matter now frozen to melt and add to the greenhouse gas problem, he said.

“That allows for the breakdown of that by bacteria and other organisms that release CO2 or methane, depending on how the breakdown occurs,” he said.