Module 8

The Cryosphere Arctic Sea Ice:

I am late with this blog since I went on spring break to Hawaii. My initial plan was to use some pictures from my trip , but I am having a hard time using pictures from Hawaii in an Arctic Sea Ice blog. I will try to fit them into my final project. My blog will follow a different format this week. For the last 5 or 6 weeks the format I was using seemed to be working just fine as my weekly evaluation scores reflected. However, my last blog for module 9 received a deduction in points even though I submitted my blog in the same format. I don't quite understand the deduction and the comment left on my blog gave me no insight. Soooooooo here goes something new. Rather than reflect on the material presented in the lesson, which by the way was sufficient for 6 weeks but not last week, I am am going to reflect on material related to the topic but not presented in the lesson.

In the picture above, provided by The National Snow and Ice Data Center, the pink line represents the median Arctic sea ice extent from 1979 - 2000. However, the white, which extends past the orange line shows the Arctic ice extent on March29 2010. But hold on!!!!! Before you begin announcing that Global warming is "over" or a "hoax" as some would proclaim, recent studies have shown that that was caused by an unusual cold snap and does not reflect recent climate data trends. You see, weather and climate are two different things yet they are commonly referred to as the same. To often in Alaska, in the winter time, we hear " it sure is cold today ...so much for global warming." The evidence of melting Arctic sea ice is over whelming.

The diagram above paints a more accurate picture of the effect of climate on Arctic sea ice. The trend shows a dramatic decrease in the amount of sea ice over a 31 year period as opposed to a 1 year anomaly.

In an report by msnbc, Satellite images have shown that summers are lasting longer in the Arctic and that sea ice melting is the result. Average Arctic temperatures have increased 5.4 degrees (and some scientists predicting a 13 degree increase during the next 100 years)over the last 50 year average. This has resulted in a sea ice measurement last September that was 20 percent less than than the average end of summer measurements since 1978.

As a person who has not seen global warming affect my daily life, I feel fortunate. However, climate change in the Arctic has dramatic effects on native cultures. As sea ice decreases many native cultures are experiencing changes in polar bear, whale, walrus , and seal feeding patterns and migrations. The positive feedback loops that result in the disappearance of sea ice has also led to the increased melting of permafrost which is also having a negative impact on many Arctic communities and is threatening many native cultures.