The extent of the arctic summer ice cap is a key indicator of our warming world. And it looks as though it is shrinking faster than many anticipated. Satellite evidence reveals that the 2012 melt has set a new record, leaving the ice sheet covering less than half the area it occupied 40 years ago. The arctic could be ice-free in the summer in as little as 20 years.
Are there really still any ’skeptics’ out there?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Mark Byron 09.21.12 at 5:01 am
Meanwhile, the Antarctic sheet is hitting a new record. Warming on one side, cooling on the other. If not skeptical, at least scratching my head over the dueling factoids.
Richard 09.21.12 at 7:50 am
It’s worth noting that there is a substantial difference in the records that have been set. The ice loss in the arctic over recent decades is massive — more than half has disappeared in 40 years. In contrast, the increase claimed for the antarctic (and only on one side, as you’ve said) is 1% per decade. Furthermore, there has been evidence recently that even on the west, antarctic is actually warming (see Fresh hockey sticks from the southern hemisphere, for example)
Neil 09.25.12 at 12:32 pm
We need to get off fossil fuels fast… there are other reasons apart from climate change to do so.
Richard 09.25.12 at 12:39 pm
I have to agree - we’re far too wedded to fossil fuels for our own good.