The Arctic recently received its annual check up by an international team of scientists and the results were not positive. It appears that the region continues to be one of the fast warming regions on the globe.
From October 2014 to September 2015, the Arctic has had its highest recorded average temperature since 1900, as the planet as a whole approaches its warmest year on record. This accelerated heating can result in downward spiraling of sea ice coverage, melting of Greenland’s Ice Sheet and reduced summer snow coverage. This change has a devastating effect on some species in this region and will most likely lead to more shipping and oil searching in the Arctic. Outside of the Arctic, this natural phenomenon can lead to raised water levels and unusual weather patterns.
Kit Kovacs of the Biodiversity Research Program of the Norwegian Polar Institute states that,
“The impact of the persistent warming trend of over 30 years are clearly evident in land and ocean environments”.
Given projections of further warming, the Earth is expected to experience major changes in the Arctic over the next decade. The Arctic has been warming at a rate twice the speed of that of the entire planet. This change has effected the sea ice coverage this year which was lower than ever before. This warming and melting of sea ice is caused by the greenhouse gases that are trapped in the atmosphere. In the video below, you can see the effects of global warming and that it is much more than a myth.
We all should have taken Al Gore and his advice a little more seriously at the turn of the millennium.