This summer, Arctic sea-ice shrunk to its second lowest level since satellite observation began 42 years ago
What does this mean for the planet?
[Thread]
bbc.in/3hVWh2m
It's normal for Arctic sea-ice to expand through the winter and then melt back again in the summer
But data suggests the floating ice sheets in September are now shrinking by around 13% per decade as the polar north warms
bbc.in/3hVWh2m
Last week they stood at just under 3.74 million sq km
It’s predicted that later this century, summer sea-ice will regularly be below 1m sq km
“It's never going to go back to the way it was in the 1980s or 1990s,” researcher Prof Julienne Stroeve says
bbc.in/3hVWh2m
This is bad news for the planet
Extensive sea-ice helps cool the Arctic and the planet as a whole
It has also been linked to the spread of a deadly virus in marine mammals
bbc.in/35TmgVN
2020 has seen some very warm conditions, especially on the Siberian side of the ocean, that drove early season melting
2012, the worst year since satellite records began, saw late storms diffuse the ice – which this year hasn’t happened
bbc.in/3hVWh2m
Prof Stroeve’s work also suggests a European Space Agency satellite has a tendency to gauge the sea-ice as being thicker than it really is
Read more about that, and the findings, here ⬇️
bbc.in/3hVWh2m
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.