The Arctic Sea ice has officially stopped melting for the year according to scientists, but has also beat the previous record. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center the sea ice covers about 24 percent of the Arctic Ocean whereas in 2007 the previous low was 29 percent. According to Walt Meier, a research scientist, "the Arctic is the earth's air-conditioner.." and we are going to see larger climate effects because we continue to lose it. During the coming months the water will refreeze, but once the summer months return the ice will be thin and more prone to melting.
The sea ice has declined much faster than predicted in the United Nations report in 2007 and some scientists believe that the Arctic Ocean could be free of summer ice by 2020. Many think this rapid warming is due to human release of greenhouse gases and not surprisingly atmospheric patterns in the Northern Hemisphere have already altered leading to greater weather extremes in the U.S. and other countries. As the ice is melting, sea levels are rising and the darker ocean surface is able to trap more of the sun's heat which in turn melts more ice. The scientific community already realizes how serious this issue is, now the public needs to realize that the Arctic melting at this rate shows that we are running out of time by failing to limit our emissions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/science/earth/arctic-sea-ice-stops-melting-but-new-record-low-is-set.html?_r=1&hp
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