On March 6, a study published in the journal Nature Review Earth and Environment warned that the Arctic Ocean sea ice is melting faster than previously thought, and the region may be ice-free for the first time before the 2030s.
Photo via Pexels Since satellite observations began in 1978, sea ice cover and thickness in the Arctic Ocean have been "significantly decreasing". For many years, melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been seen as a barometer of the effects of climate change.
The study found that the earliest ice-free state of the Arctic Ocean could have occurred between the 2020s and 2030s, and most likely before the 2050s, IT House noted.
The sea ice mentioned here is seasonal and freezes during the winter of each year, but melts in the summer. Due to human-caused global warming, the amount of sea ice is decreasing every summer.
Sea ice typically reaches its lowest levels in September, the researchers said. They** will have a continuous ice-free September until 2035 to 2067.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the first ice-free summer will occur in the Arctic Ocean with less than 38 percent sea ice60,000 square mile hours. Alexandra Jahn, a researcher at the University of Boulder in Colorado, said that this scenario is "no longer a distant possibility" and that the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free under all emission scenarios.
The study's scientists believe there is an urgent need to better understand the impacts of the ice-free Arctic Ocean, including on marine ecosystems, global energy balances, wave height and coastal erosion.
The study, released Tuesday, comes after record-breaking heat in the summer of 2023. The annual report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) last December showed that 2023 was the sixth-hottest year on record in the Arctic, causing sea ice to melt at a record rate.