Scientists make alarming discovery while studying Arctic ice: ‘Powerful’
A research team has examined how increased precipitation in the Arctic is causing significant changes – and the implications are being felt closer to home than some think.
What’s going on?
The researchers used climate model simulations to study the impact of sea ice retreat on summer precipitation patterns. The results, published in Geophysical Research Letters, showed that precipitation would increase by 17% if global temperatures rose 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, with 16% of that increase attributed to sea ice retreat.
Indeed, melting sea ice modifies the “cold white cap” effect, weakening the region’s ability to reflect solar radiation and thus pushing the Arctic towards a warmer, “rain-dominated” water cycle, according to an analysis by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) published in Phys.org.
Researchers from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of CAS, Beijing Normal University and the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences also participated in the study.
Why is this important?
First author Yang Jiao explained that in the Arctic, animals that rely on sea ice for food and shelter, such as reindeer and polar bears, would be “facing survival crises,” according to Phys.org. These crises would disrupt the region’s ecological balance, which is vital to limiting the spread of disease and supporting the food web.
And what happens in the Arctic would not stay in the Arctic. According to the study, increased precipitation would accelerate the thawing of permafrost, releasing additional gases that would warm the planet.
While extreme weather events occur naturally — and the events cannot be solely linked to global warming, because complex factors influence the weather, according to NOAA — human activities release billions of tons of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere each year.
This has led to more intense extreme weather, according to scientific consensus. At home, this can mean sky-high insurance premiums, shortages of essential goods and a higher risk of network outages.
What are we doing about this?
The researchers believe their knowledge of this critical climate problem could help develop more accurate predictive models for weather conditions in the Arctic.
“This study not only deepens our understanding of warming and humidification processes in the Arctic, but also establishes a quantitative relationship model between ‘sea ice and precipitation,’ providing a powerful tool to improve the forecasting ability of extreme weather and climate events in the Arctic,” Yang said, according to Phys.org.
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