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Melting Arctic Ices. By: Chris Bitet & Jerry Copeland. Melting Arctic Ices. Problems In the North Pole. Arctic ices are melting more and re-freezing less than ever in the satellite era Arctic sea ice in February 2012 averaged 5.62 million square miles. This is the fifth-lowest since 1979.
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Melting Arctic Ices By: Chris Bitet & Jerry Copeland
Problems In the North Pole • Arctic ices are melting more and re-freezing less than ever in the satellite era • Arctic sea ice in February 2012 averaged 5.62 million square miles. This is the fifth-lowest since 1979. • 409,000 square miles below the 1979-2000 average. • Arctic warming has become so serious that North Pole may be devoid of ice entirely this summer
Causes to the problem • One of the major causes of melting ices is believed to be global warming. • Rising temperatures have begun to make the arctic ices melt more in the summer and freeze less in the summer. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRWKNF35Jrg&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLA8574B96C4C04389
Negative Effects • Albedo • the reflectivity of an object • What happens? • Ice reflects solar radiation • Water absorbs the rays of sunlight into sea water • Usually the ice would deflect the sun rays back into space , but the melting of the ice allows water to absorb more sun rays than usual .This melts even more ice which causes even more albedo to occur heating the arctic even more
Effects on organisms • Walruses, seals, and sea birdsall use the sea ice to hunt and raise their young . • The sea ice offers protection from predators and allows them to hunt more efficiently. • With the sea ice melting the mortality rates of their young have risen exponentially. • If left unchecked they will continue to skyrocket.
Effects on polar bears • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GDKrqX4kIA • Polar bears are being forced to migrate to the south and have begun actually mating with grizzly bears. • Because the arctic ices are melting, polar bears are starting to die out due to the long swim that they have to take to get to certain places. • This is causing them to be on the verge of extinction
Solutions • One of the more innovative partial solutions is that Russian scientists have begun covering small portions of ocean with porous polymer “Rafts” to block sun rays and promote freezing. • Some blame Global warming as the main reason that the ice is melting and that reducing your carbon footprint can help solve the problem.
Work cited February ice extent low in the Barents Sea, high in Baring Sea .http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ http://www.physorg.com/news128694058.html