Thin Ice of Arctic sea by MagikUnicorn
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Description
Terragen front left & right view
and INFORMATION about the Thin Ice !!!
Satellites Show Arctic Literally on Thin Ice
The latest Arctic sea ice data from NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center show that the decade-long trend of shrinking sea ice cover is continuing. New evidence from satellite observations also shows that the ice cap is thinning as well.
Arctic sea ice works like an air conditioner for the global climate system. Ice naturally cools air and water masses, plays a key role in ocean circulation, and reflects solar radiation back into space. In recent years, Arctic sea ice has been declining at a surprising rate.
Scientists who track Arctic sea ice cover from space announced today that this winter had the fifth lowest maximum ice extent on record. The six lowest maximum events since satellite monitoring began in 1979 have all occurred in the past six years (2004-2009).
Until recently, the majority of Arctic sea ice survived at least one summer and often several. But things have changed dramatically, according to a team of University of Colorado, Boulder, scientists led by Charles Fowler. Thin seasonal ice -- ice that melts and re-freezes every year -- makes up about 70 percent of the Arctic sea ice in wintertime, up from 40 to 50 percent in the 1980s and 1990s. Thicker ice, which survives two or more years, now comprises just 10 percent of wintertime ice cover, down from 30 to 40 percent.
According to researchers from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., the maximum sea ice extent for 2008-09, reached on Feb. 28, was 15.2 million square kilometers (5.85 million square miles). That is 720,000 square kilometers (278,000 square miles) less than the average extent for 1979 to 2000.
"Ice extent is an important measure of the health of the Arctic, but it only gives us a two-dimensional view of the ice cover," said Walter Meier, research scientist at the center and the University of Colorado, Boulder. "Thickness is important, especially in the winter, because it is the best overall indicator of the health of the ice cover. As the ice cover in the Arctic grows thinner, it grows more vulnerable to melting in the summer."
The Arctic ice cap grows each winter as the sun sets for several months and intense cold sets in. Some of that ice is naturally pushed out of the Arctic by winds, while much of it melts in place during summer. The thicker, older ice that survives one or more summers is more likely to persist through the next summer.
Sea ice thickness has been hard to measure directly, so scientists have typically used estimates of ice age to approximate its thickness. But last year a team of researchers led by Ron Kwok of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., produced the first map of sea ice thickness over the entire Arctic basin.
Using two years of data from NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), Kwok's team estimated thickness and volume of the Arctic Ocean ice cover for 2005 and 2006. They found that the average winter volume of Arctic sea ice contained enough water to fill Lake Michigan and Lake Superior combined.
The older, thicker sea ice is declining and is being replaced with newer, thinner ice that is more vulnerable to summer melt, according to Kwok. His team found that seasonal sea ice averages about 1.7 meters (6 feet) in thickness, while ice that had lasted through more than one summer averages about 3 meters (9 feet), though it can grow much thicker in some locations near the coast.
Kwok is currently working to extend the ICESat estimate further, from 2003 to 2008, to see how the recent decline in the area covered by sea ice is mirrored in changes in its volume.
"With these new data on both the area and thickness of Arctic sea ice, we will be able to better understand the sensitivity and vulnerability of the ice cover to changes in climate," Kwok said.
Thanks
Magik
Comments (77)
MUSEWORX
Amazing terrain work! Very nice color schemes. Thanks for the frightning info!
adrie
Gorgeous work Magik, very beautiful view....love it.
UteBigSmile
Hi this are amazing images and an scary informations, thanks for them! Hug's
carlx
Excellent and cool imagination, my friend!!!
giareg
Fantastic scene. Great work!!
PIERRE25
Très lumineux, jolis paysages!
B_PEACOCK
Beautiful work Real
Cosme..D..Churruca
great work Magik... and so intteresting the info. a little scaring.
renecyberdoc
sounds like the apocalypse or armageddon is getting near,i will sharpen whatever i have. real great piece of info here.
justme1212
Beautiful but very sad.
rayag
Wonderful work!
tryky5carla
Superb collage, great work ! Very interesting explications ! Thank you my friend !
miashadows
Really stunning image...wonderful work !
densa
wonderful scene
lucindawind
beautiful !! its awful whats happening to the Arctic
ladyinblack
Wow... gorgeous images! Very beautiful work :)
1010
Stunning vistas, beautifully done Majik.
evielouise
Stunning landscaped and I will watch those videos asap!
sim3344
Excellent work!!!
miwi
Excellent work,and thanks for the information!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
moochagoo
Inquiétante histoire :)
DRAKELOT
Fantastic scenes Magik !!!!!
bebert
belle répartition des surfaces
Hendesse
Excellent work and presentation!
Miska7
Very nice scene. Great sky, lighting and terrain! Really well done.
CarolSassy
Pretty collage of lovely terrains. Fantastic colors! Excellent work! (:
BenBischop
Superb Renders....!!!
marcopolinski
Excellent data and just love the multiple views .. it really helps the scenes come alive ... excellent work!
drifterlee
Gorgeous scenery!!!!!
three_grrr
The images are beautiful, the news is frightening. But there have been warnings of this for as far back as I can remember, which is a LOOOOOOONG way back!