(ORDO NEWS) — A new study has found that Arctic ice is thinning at an “alarming rate”. For 18 years, he lost a third of his volume. Scientists say ice has lost 16% of its thickness in just three years
In the study, published in Geophysical Research Letters , scientists analyzed data coming from the ICESat-2 satellites and the CryoSat-2 radar orbiting the Earth.
The results showed that the Arctic ice has lost almost half a meter of thickness since the launch of the ICESat-2 satellite in 2019.
“We really didn’t expect to see such a decline as the ice got much thinner in just three short years,” the researchers wrote.
Bigger and more shocking findings
The scientists also analyzed 18 years of sea ice records from the previous ICESat satellite, which also recorded changes in Arctic ice thickness and volume each month. The researchers combined this data with new ones.
The result showed that over the past 18 years, about 6,000 cubic kilometers of winter ice has disappeared. Much of this is due to the transition from multi-year ice to thinner seasonal sea ice.
“Current models predict that we can expect an ice-free summer in the Arctic by mid-century, when old ice thick enough to survive the melt season is gone,” the researchers write.
Scientists also fear that the depletion of Arctic ice will lead to changes in the ecosystem, which, in turn, could affect ocean currents and further accelerate climate change.
By the way, the scale of global climate change in the Arctic can be seen in a number of shocking photographs from the Danish Meteorological Institute. Photos and explanations of why the Arctic is melting can be seen in our material.
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