Arctic Matters The Global Connection to Changes in the Arctic (2015) / Chapter Skim
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The Arctic
The Arctic
Pages 4-14
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Changes concentrations of these gases cause Earth to warm by trapping more of this heat. in the Arctic have been generally more Human activities -- especially the burning rapid than those anywhere else on of fossil fuels -- have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by about 40 Earth.
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The Arctic Ocean is particularly sensitive to ocean acidification: frigid Arctic waters absorb more carbon dioxide than temperate waters. Additionally, declines in the extent of summer sea ice will expose more ocean area, allowing for greater transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the ocean.
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These images of Alaska's Bristol Bay, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the NASA Aqua satellite, illustrate the thinning and thawing of arctic sea ice each spring.
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The 2012 National Research Council report Seasonal-to-Decadal Predictions of Arctic Sea Ice: Challenges and Strategies offers strategies to The blanket of ice coating Earth's northernmost seas is thin and improve sea ice projections. ragged by summer.
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1971–2000 -- the baseline period of observa tions -- in many areas of the Arctic. The Greenland ice sheet is essentially an enor mous glacier that extends about 1,699,000 This loss of ice from Arctic land masses contributes square kilometers (656,000 square miles)
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From page 9... ...
of thawing. Defined as soil, rock, and any other subsurface earth material that exists at or below freezing for The effects of changes in permafrost are complex two or more consecutive years, permafrost thaws because each area has a unique geological, chem when ground temperatures increase.
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A 2014 National Research Council workshop summarized in the report Opportunities to Use Remote Sensing in Understanding Permafrost and Related Ecological Characteristics explored how The distribution of permafrost in the Arctic. remote sensing technologies could be harnessed Source: Philippe Rekacewicz, to advance knowledge about permafrost.
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From page 11... ...
As area of sea ice overhanging the shallow waters ice melts and temperatures change, these species of the continental shelf, using the ice as a resting face mounting challenges -- including the possi- platform between dives to forage for clams and bility of extinction. worms in the seabed.
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From page 12... ...
. report Frontiers in Understanding Climate Change As Arctic summers warm and the ice-free season and Polar Ecosystems identifies key research ques lengthens, more species from the south could tions to better understand the ecological impacts begin to spread northward.
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The researchers concluded that plant growth had increased by 7 to 10 percent overall. Source: NASA Earth Observatory As Permafrost Thaws, Ancient Treasures are Exposed As temperatures warm, artifacts and biological specimens that have been frozen in place for thousands of years have begun to emerge from thawing permafrost and eroding coastlines, bear ing profound messages about human history and the evolution of life on Earth.
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From page 14... ...
Thawing permafrost poses particularly significant problems. As per- The 2014 National Research Council report The mafrost thaws, the shape of the land changes and Arctic in the Anthropocene: Emerging Research streams or bodies of water can form in areas that Questions explores the need for actionable Arctic were previously dry.
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