The sediment samples were collected from the seabed in the Lincoln Sea, part of the “Last Ice Area”. They revealed that the sea ice in this area disappeared during summer season around 10,000 years ago. When temperatures were at a level that we are rapidly approaching again today, the research study team concluded that summer season sea ice melted at a time.
” Climate models have actually recommended that summer sea ice in this area will melt in the coming decades, however its uncertain if it will take place in 20, 30, 40 years, or more. This task has demonstrated that were very near this situation and that temperatures only need to increase a little before the ice will melt,” says Christof Pearce, Assistant Professor at the Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University.
When the sea ice will melt today, the researchers have utilized data from the Early Holocene duration to forecast. Throughout this time period, summertime temperature levels in the Arctic were higher than today. This was caused by natural environment irregularity as opposed to human-induced warming, it still is a natural lab for studying the fate of this region in the instant future.
In Aarhus, the marine samples have actually been examined in partnership with Associate Professor Marianne Glasius and scholastic technical staff Mads Mørk Jensen from the Department of Chemistry. To name a few things, they studied particles from certain algae that are only produced when there is sea ice. When summer season sea ice was present in the location, the scientists can consequently determine.
A wake-up call
When the sea ice in the Lincoln Sea starts to melt during the summer months, it can have significant consequences for the environment. Where white ice shows the rays of the sun, a dark sea will absorb more than 10 times as much solar power and thereby increase global warming. Furthermore, it can impact environments:
” The sea ice is a base for lots of communities. How will the marine environments be impacted worldwide if the sea ice vanishes?
According to the scientists from Aarhus University, the research study can be translated as bad and good news for the climate.
” The bad news is that we can see this taking place very quickly. If we reduce greenhouse gas emissions and set enthusiastic political objectives, the good news is that our information reveals the trend is reversible and we can do something about it. If we can keep temperatures steady or possibly even make them fall, the sea ice would go back to the area,” says Henrieka Detlef.
This is echoed by Christof Pearce: “The study is a wake-up call due to the fact that we understand that it will happen. This news is not making the circumstance more depressing, simply more urgent. We need to act now so we can alter it.”
Referral: “Seasonal sea-ice in the Arctics last ice area during the Early Holocene” by Henrieka Detlef, Matt ORegan, Christian Stranne, Mads Mørk Jensen, Marianne Glasius, Thomas M. Cronin, Martin Jakobsson and Christof Pearce, 20 March 2023, Communications Earth & & Environment.DOI: 10.1038/ s43247-023-00720-w.
Funding: Aarhus Universitets Forskningsfond, Vetenskapsrådet, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme.
New research study shows that summertime Arctic Sea ice might quickly become an antique of the past. They showed that the sea ice in this region melted away throughout summer months around 10,000 years back. The research group concluded that summer sea ice melted at a time when temperatures were at a level that we are rapidly approaching once again today.
The scientists can thereby identify when summer season sea ice was present in the area.
When the sea ice in the Lincoln Sea begins to melt throughout the summer season months, it can have major effects for the environment.
Icebreaker Oden in the sea ice north of Greenland. Credit: Martin Jakobsson, Stockholm University
New research study suggests that summertime Arctic Sea ice could quickly become a relic of the past. Temperatures today mirror those of 10,000 years back, when similar conditions caused the melting of this ice. The prospective disappearance of this ice might have extensive impacts on both the climate and environments.
In the face of intensifying temperatures due to environment change, the “Last Ice Area” positioned to the north of Greenland and Canada acts as the final sanctuary for seasonal sea ice. Nevertheless, recent research study tips that this may not hold true for much longer.
A group of researchers from Aarhus University, working together with Stockholm University and the United States Geological Survey, has actually handled to evaluate samples from the formerly inaccessible area located north of Greenland.