Siberia, sea ice has yet to form in the Arctic Ocean
Environment — di Valentina Neri
By late October, Arctic sea ice had still not formed in the Laptev Sea, off Siberia. An exceptional delay that is alarming scientists.
Siberia, sea ice has yet to form in the Arctic Ocean
By late October, Arctic sea ice had still not formed in the Laptev Sea, off Siberia. An exceptional delay that is alarming scientists.
We are now at the end of October, yet ice has still not formed in the Laptev Sea, the section of the Arctic Ocean bounded by Siberia. According to the Guardian, which consulted several scientists, this is the first time on record since monitoring of this phenomenon began.
Siberia, water temperatures are 5 degrees above average
The reason ice formation is so delayed is that, in the affected area, Arctic Ocean temperatures have reached peaks of more than 5 degrees Celsius above normal. This phenomenon is due to a combination of factors, including the persistence of a record heatwave in northern Russia and the fact that, in winter 2019, ice melt occurred earlier than usual. Trapped heat takes a very long time to dissipate into the atmosphere, even at this time of year when Siberia receives no more than two hours of sunlight a day.
Mild currents from the Atlantic have done the rest, effectively "breaking up" the usual stratification between the warmer deep waters and the colder surface. The chart showing ice extent in the Laptev Sea tells the story clearly: at this time of year it normally already shows a rapid rise, but this year it is exceptionally flat.
"This year, following a warm summer, we observe that ice volume is the second lowest ever recorded." These are the words of Lars Kaleschke, climatologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, as reported by Euronews. "We are seeing a delay in the freezing of this area, and at the moment we have four million square kilometres less sea ice than the average for the 1980s. That means an area ten times the size of Germany is missing."
Towards the first ice-free summer in the Arctic
"The fact that ice has not yet formed this autumn is unprecedented in the Siberian Arctic," wrote Zachary Labe, a researcher at Colorado State University, to the Guardian. An anomaly that, he reiterates, can only be explained by climate change caused by human activity.
"2020 also confirms the rapid changes the Arctic is undergoing. Without a systematic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the likelihood of our first ice-free Arctic summer will continue to grow." It is no longer a question of "if", he argues, but of "when". Projecting on the basis of the scientific data available, it should happen between 2030 and 2050.