In 1,500 years Arctic ice has never melted this quickly, and reversing course now seems very difficult. This is what emerges from the annual report of the American agency for oceans and atmosphere.
The Arctic may never return to what it once was. At present there are no signs to inspire hope: the surface area and thickness of the ice sheet are constantly shrinking, at a rate never recorded in 1,500 years. This was highlighted by the annual report presented in New Orleans, Louisiana, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States (NOAA).
While in the summer of 2017 ice did not melt to record levels, in the winter season — the period in which it should reach its maximum extent — its growth was minimal. The ice sheet is thin because it is relatively young, meaning it is less than a year old, as specified in the report. Only 21 per cent of the entire surface is composed of "older" ice — more than a year old and therefore thicker — compared to 45 per cent in 1985. The Arctic region is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, and according to NOAA, which holds data going back 1,500 years, ice has never melted this quickly.
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The Arctic today is very different from what it was ten years ago, and the conditions in which it now finds itself have become "the new normal", given that such extensive warming and melting are unfortunately an established reality. It is a vicious cycle: the more the ice melts, the more the water absorbs solar rays and warms up. Scientists have confirmed that human activity and the resulting climate change are contributing to the problem. "The Arctic has always been the planet's refrigerator, but the door to that fridge has been left open," said Jeremy Mathis, director of NOAA's Arctic research programme.
Flora and fauna are also undergoing changes. The Arctic tundra is greener, while the proliferation of plankton — the collection of small organisms at the base of the marine food chain — has increased due to warmer waters: in the Barents Sea, which is part of the Arctic Ocean, for example, the temperature has risen by four degrees compared to the average. To protect this ecosystem, the United States, the European Union and seven other nations have signed an agreement banning commercial fishing in the region for at least sixteen years. Local populations are also at risk: "villages are being submerged, particularly in the North American area, giving rise to some of the first climate refugees," said Mathis.
Read also: Arctic waters protected from commercial fishing for at least 16 years
It may seem a contradiction that research such as this was conducted in the United States, after President Donald Trump declared his intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate. Timothy Gallaudet, appointed acting administrator of NOAA, said the White House would examine the information gathered and incorporate it into its own agenda. He also added that these are "facts obtained through thousands and thousands of scientific measurements that have been validated and peer-reviewed by a community of experts who have been working in the field for decades." The hope is that the growing body of scientific research — which not only provides precise data but also concrete examples of the visible consequences that human activities have on the environment — may demonstrate to nations around the world that climate change is a real problem that we must solve together.