Currently sea ice covers some 1.8 million square miles of the arctic during the summer season. Recent research expects the ice extent to rapidly decrease over the next 30 years to an average area of 390,000 square miles, which is a much shorter period than previous anticipated.
Muyin Wang and James Overland had their study on this subject titled A sea ice free summer Arctic within 30 years? published by Geophysical Research Letters. Much of the decrease is expected in the region of the revised forecast is the result of a new examination of computer modeling and recent sea ice measurements. It is thought that natural variability and warmer environmental conditions are the result of an increase in greenhouse gasses.
Muyin Wang describes the process underway saying, “The Arctic is often called the ‘Earth’s refrigerator’ because the sea ice helps cool the planet by reflecting the sun’s radiation back into space. With less ice, the sun’s warmth is instead absorbed by the open water, contributing to warmer temperatures in the water and the air.”
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