This Cool Geo-Pic comes again from NASA's Earth Observatory. Part of larger series on measuring the loss of one million square miles of polar ice in the Arctic Ocean, it highlights the pace of the ice loss. Nothing about this is "new to the planet" except for THE RATE OF CHANGE.
Fluctuations in sea level (30 meters lower as recent as 20,000 years ago) - once measured in centuries and millennia are now occurring over decades.
Quick "Cut & Paste" Highlights:
" ... On September 12, 2009, sea ice in the Arctic Ocean most likely reached its minimum extent for 2009, said the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The reach of Arctic sea ice fluctuates through the year, growing in the winter and shrinking through the summer...."
"....This image illustrates the 2009 minimum on September 12, when ice covered 5.10 million square kilometers (2.97 million square miles) of the Arctic Ocean. The average minimum between 1979 and 2000, outlined in yellow, was 6.71 million square kilometers...."
"....The graph illustrates the difference between 2009, 2008, and 2007 sea ice extent and the average extent. Sea ice covered a smaller area in 2009 compared to 2008 until August, at which point ice loss in 2008 surpassed 2009. Neither year came close to 2007, which was low from the start of the melt season. All years were significantly below average...."
"....To see how sea ice has changed since 2000, see the Earth Observatory’s World of Change entry on Arctic Sea Ice...."
Full Article - Click Here
References / Credits:
National Snow and Ice Data Center. (2009, September 17). Arctic sea ice reaches annual minimum extent. Accessed September 18, 2009.
Scott, M. (2009, April 20). Sea Ice. NASA’s Earth Observatory. Accessed September 18, 2009.
NASA images created by Jesse Allen and Rob Simmon, using AMSR-E sea ice concentration data provided courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Caption by Holli Riebeek.
Instrument: Aqua - AMSR-E
No comments:
Post a Comment