(ORDO NEWS) — The latest images, which were provided by NASA, clearly show that the ice caps in Nunavut have completely disappeared. This event was predicted by experts about three years ago.
The images taken by NASA’s Terra satellite are proof that the ice caps in the northeastern part of Ellesmere Island have completely melted. The site was first visited by NSIDC Director Mark Serrez back in 1982. He says that then it seemed to him that these huge blocks of ice and snow could not disappear anywhere and were a permanent part of the local landscape. The fact that they disappeared literally in 40 years is just an incredible event.
In 2017, Serrez, along with other scientists, began to say that the ice caps would completely melt in a maximum of five years. Such conclusions were made after experts compared the images obtained in 2015 with the photo of 1959. Even then, the ice caps shrank by 5%.
Scientists added that it was 2015 that caused the most damage to the ice, because then the volume of ice caps decreased due to too warm summer. In the photographs taken in mid-July 2020, not a single hat is visible anymore. Serrez says it was clear from the start that climate change would affect what was happening in the Arctic.
The places that melted were about half of the small ice caps located on the Hazen Plateau. They were formed several centuries ago during the Little Ice Age. The rest of the ice caps are located slightly higher, so their condition is more stable today. At the same time, experts say that soon they can expect the same if the air temperature continues to increase.
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