Arctic Ice Melting Faster Than Once Thought

BY TARA GRIMES
ANCHOR ALISON ARCHER

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Scientists call it an alarming development- and say there’s a need for urgent action. A recent report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program says melting ice in the Arctic could cause global sea levels to rise more than 5 feet within this century - that’s two and a half times more than the 2007 projection. The report says the more drastic prediction is because the melting ice allows more sunlight to be absorbed, creating a feedback loop. (Video: BBC One)

“The greatest increase in surface air temperature has happened in autumn, in regions where sea ice has disappeared by the end of summer. This suggests that the sea is absorbing more of the sun’s energy during the summer because of the loss of ice cover.”

Like many news outlets, TG Daily suggests the long-term outlook is grim.

“It says there are signs that warming is accelerating, and that the Arctic Ocean could be pretty much ice-free during summer within 30 or 40 years -- again, much sooner than previous estimates.”

Some news outlets are focused on what this could mean for coastal areas including London, New York City, Bangladesh, and Shanghai. NBC Learn spoke with a professor from the University of Pennsylvania.

DR. BENJAMIN P. HORTON, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: “If we get rates of sea level rise, greater than one meter even, we’re going to inundate many of the coastal areas on our planet causing health problems, social economic problems, biological problems, even political instability.”

Voice of America spoke with a University of Maine Climate Change Institute professor who agrees. He says while 2100 seems far away, since half the world’s population lives in coastal areas, we should act now.

GORDON HAMILTON, LEADING GLACIOLOGIST AND UNIVERSITY OF MAINE CLIMATE CHANGE INSTITUTE PROFESSOR: “You know if you’re building coastal structures and you’re planning the development in coastal zones, these are the types of human activities that take place over the course of decades and so we need to be making these decisions with the best sea level rise estimates in hand.

According to the LA Times, foreign ministers of Arctic nations will meet this week to discuss the report.

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1. By: newsydotcom
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4. Added :09-May-11
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