Sea Ice Has Evolved Over Time

Earth has experienced many episodes of dramatic climate changes with different periods in earth history. There have been periods during which the entire planet has been covered in ice and at another time it has been scorchingly hot and dry. In this regards, earth has experienced at least three major periods of long- term frigid climate and ice ages interspersed with periods of warm climate. The last glacial period which current glaciers are the result of it, occurring during the last years of Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years age (Clayton, 1997). Indeed, glaciers present sensitive indicators of climate change and global warming and by estimating and monitoring the dynamic evolution of these ice masses, several

Over fifteen thousand years ago an ordinary mass of ice emerged from nature and commenced its destiny of becoming the world's most famous iceberg (www.titanicuniverse.com). This notorious mass of ice came to existence thousands of years ago as a lone fragment of snow which eventually accumulated for a multitude of ages. While the flurries continuously descended along the shores of Greenland, the snowflakes were simultaneously being condensed into one of the most critical abominations in recorded history (www.titanic-titanic.com). Once the timing of the intemperate environment had reached the year of 1909, the glacier was then fractured and allowed for the ice’s secession from its customary location and the advancement towards a tremendous

This problem could mark either the end of human civilizations or mark the beginning of the next era of human development. It would decide on our species survival, whether there will be another mass extinction like the one 65 million years ago. The question is “How might the breaking up and melting of continental ice in Greenland and the Antarctic affect Canada’s coastline?”. In the following sections, we have gathered an abundance of information from a variety of sources from which we will discuss, and analyze. We will find out how this data can help us understand the effect of melting glaciers on Canada’s coastline, as well as how and what we could do to stop or slow it down.

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in the Antarctic are fascinating flightless birds that are able to withstand incredibly harsh environments, where wind chills can reach to -76°F. Even though these penguins are able to survive the freezing temperatures, their breeding success and mortality rates are based primarily on the sea ice concentration (SIC) and sea ice extent (SIE) throughout the seasons. Sea ice concentration is a variable for climate scientists and nautical navigators to find the area of sea ice compared to the total at a given point in the ocean, whereas sea ice extent refers to a region as “ice-covered” or “not ice-covered.” During the late 1970s, there was an elongated atypical warm period with reduced

As important as it is, Arctic coastal sea ice plays a vital role in dynamics of the coastline, covers stretches of open water which serve as important biological habitats, and serves as a platform for a broad range of activities by residents and industries (Druckenmiller et al., 2009). Sea ice is also important because it is used as a platform for harvesting seals and whales in spring, transport of personnel and supplies to camps, and as a network of trails (Druckenmiller et al., 2009). Dangerous effects of climate change include “ice breakouts” which are when large chunks of ice that whalers are using as working areas break off of the main ice blocks and take whaling camps out to sea (Druckenmiller et al.,

In recent months, scientists have been taking notice to record cool temperatures observed in the North Atlantic Ocean, while the rest of the world is experiencing record warmth. They believe this cooling of the water to be due to the accelerated melting of the Greenland ice

Balog was once a skeptic of climate change as he believed that the theory surrounding global warming was based off of computer models. Furthermore, he did not believe that humans could alter the world’s climate on such a global scale. However, through studies of ice records, long tubes of ice drilled from the ground, Balog found key evidence suggesting ideas contrary to his prior beliefs. These glacial tubes preserved historical records of the past similar to the rings of a tree, recording past temperatures and CO2 levels. Using these records, one can see the direct variation between temperature and CO2. Additionally, the recent spike in both

One of the global warming changes our planet is going through is the melting of glaciers in the Arctic sea. John Hawkins states, “How much Arctic ice really matters is an open question since the very limited evidence we have suggests that a few

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, humans have been releasing ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels.

“The Glacier, and with it the Duck, might have moved since then.” Lou Sapienza is the lead organizer of a Coast Guard Operation searching for a missing World War II plane; the Grumman Duck and its lost crew. A challenging problem the party has with finding the Duck is the movement of glaciers since the planes went down close to 70 years ago. Since the 1950s the extent and the movement of the ice sheets have rapidly changed due to Global Warming. Most affected by this climate change is The Arctic, Antarctica and the Greenland Ice Cap. Lou Sapienza and his team of specialists only have a hand-drawn map of where the Duck crashed and an old radar survey from years ago. Their daring task is to predict how the movement of the ice sheet accelerated by global warming might have moved their missing plane. Since global warming is a problem, everyone will be affected by it in one way or another. It is time to act, to confront the problem and find a solution.

The entire world was said to be one giant chunk of land surrounded by a giant body of water. The great ice age hit and the big chunk of land started separating into pieces. This caused the water to go in between the lands. The ice age also caused the waters to freeze and the sea levels to drop and an isthmus or “bridge” was there for them to use. The people used the isthmus to populate the lands across from them. If the bridge wasn’t there, they would have had to populate the Americas when Columbus got there in 1492.

As Earth’s surface temperature rises, the ocean also becomes hotter which results in an increase in sea level and decrease in Earth’s ice. “The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters of ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969” (“Climate Change: How Do We Know?”). Since greenhouse gases are trapping energy from the sun, the oceans absorb more heat which ultimately increases surface temperature. Oceans are able to absorb large amounts of heat energy because water has a greater heat capacity than air. As oceans become warmer, the frozen water on Earth melts at an accelerated pace. The thickness of Arctic Sea ice has dramatically declined throughout the last several decades. “Arctic sea ice

It has been observed through various researches that in the last century, average temperatures across the globe increased by over 1.3°F with an increase of more than two times in the Arctic. (Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu, & Palutikof, June 2008). The results of climate change can also be seen in changing precipitation patterns, increases in ocean temperatures, changes in the sea level, and acidity and melting of glaciers and sea ice (USEPA, 2014).

Altogether, the author effectively shows the damages that climate change causes on the Arctic Ocean. This includes changes in the water’s components, the loss of marine life, and rising oceans. The author is also able to show how imminent these problems are today, and that this is not just a topic for the future. This topic is important because the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases is hurting the ice caps exponentially, which will cause a ripple effect of harmful

According to Dr. Parmentier and his team, regional differences are of colossal importance in this particular study due to the massive spatial variability in both sea ice concentrations and methane emissions (Parmentier el at., 2015). If sea ice departure occurs near a region with vast wetlands, it is preferably likely that methane emissions are altered as opposed to melt occurring far off. Therefore, sea ice concentration was measured to the isolated grid cells of models representing methane. The grid used by Dr. Parmentier and his team was a grid-specific index of sea ice cover that represented a weighted average of sea ice concentration that is dominated by close by ice, with a less impact from remote changes in the ice. This grid being closely