A study published Tuesday that looked at all scenarios for carbon emissions, including low ones, suggests that the Arctic Ocean could become ice-free in the summer starting in 2030, a decade earlier than previously predicted.
The study, published on Tuesday in the specialized journal Nature Communications, was conducted by scientists from South Korea, Germany and Canada, who used observational data from the period 1979-2019 to create new models.
The sixth assessment report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released in March, indicated that the Arctic would be virtually ice-free in September by mid-century under medium and high pollutant emission scenarios.
September is the month when ocean ice tends to reach its annual minimum.
The absence of ice means, according to scientists, an area of u200bu200bless than a million square kilometers, since there may be residual ice along the coast.
The Arctic Ocean covers an area of about 14 million square kilometers and is covered with ice for most of the year, but since 2000 its area has noticeably decreased.
Ice plays a key role in summer, reflecting the sun’s rays and cooling the ocean.
The disappearance of the ice will accelerate warming in the Arctic, leading to an increase in extreme weather events at mid-latitudes, such as heatwaves and wildfires, according to the authors of the new study.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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