Sea Ice: Important To The Environment

The melting sea ice is also affecting the polar bear's main prey, seals, forcing the bears to turn to alternate, less nutritious food sources. Once sea ice forms in the winter, seals use the ice to create dens to give birth to their pups. In these months, polar bears use sea ice as their hunting grounds to find seal dens. Now that Seasonal Ice is forming later and melting earlier (IPCC, 2013), seals have less time to build dens and give birth. Consequently, polar bears have less time to hunt their preferred prey of seal pups. They must spend more time on land hunting other animals of less nutritional value. Organizations like Sea World Parks have reported male polar bears occasionally eating newly-born polar bear cubs because they cannot find other food to eat. Lack of nutritional food leads to a reduced body size. Polar bears are becoming thinner and weaker from not eating enough (Rode, Amstrup, & Regehr 2010). They have to swim longer distances to find ice to hunt upon, causing many cubs to die because they are not yet strong enough. In the Hudson Bay, the average polar bear weight has decreased by 15% and the population has decreased by 20% (National Wildlife Federation). In the summer when there is no ice, polar bears in the Hudson Bay go onto land to fast until the ice reforms. Now that ice is

Arctic ice caps are melting, causing many animals to find either a new habitat or new food, which are both extremely challenging. For example, in Document A, sea lions

Water from the falling ice fall into the ocean 10. In recent years humans have alerted 11. Climate change is different than daily weather

Kathy Conlan is an expert in understanding the weird and wonderful world of marine creatures that live deep under the Arctic ice. She specializes in marine benthic biology and amphipod systematics. Kathy studies how human and natural changes affect marine life in the Arctic and Antarctic, the effects of pollution on marine life as well as global warming. She is past chief officer for Life Sciences in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and is a judge for SCAR’s Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and policy in Antarctica, represents Canada for the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research, taught at Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Students On Ice, mentors university students and gives speaches and “Show and tells” at the museum.

Sea ice is a vital breeding and nursing habitat for emperor penguins, where their colonies are formed far from the open sea. The breeding penguins, would then, go on scavenging trips throughout the entire development and chick nurturing stages. However, during the period with thick and wide sea ice cover, the trips become longer. Adult penguins would have to use up more energy for travel, which will result in lower offspring provisioning and hatching success (Barbraud & Weimerskirch, 2001, p. 185). Also, sea ice could influence the emperor penguin by “topdown processes”. Diminished sea ice could allow access to hunting areas of the emperor penguin by potential predators, such as killer whales (Jenouvrier et al., (2012), p. 2759). Consequently, there are no emperor penguin remains found in killer whale diets. Nevertheless, penguins that have used up so much energy (especially males after their 4 months fast) are vulnerable to other predators, which could result in a lower survival rate. This predicament is mainly caused by the change of variables called “sea ice concentration” and “sea ice

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.,

Have you ever wanted to spend months in temperatures that regularly are -30°? Many people cannot stand cold temperatures such as 32° even just for the couple minutes it takes while they are walking from their car to the store. In the story “Extreme Research Shows How Arctic Ice Is Dwindling” by Andy Isaacson he discusses how the arctic ice is dwindling, what will happen as a result of that and then finally about his trip where he was able to observe it all firsthand. The sea of ice is unlike how most people would imagine it to be as depicted on maps, instead it is not all connected but rather it is many different pieces all just floating near one another.

Other animals in danger include arctic seals, seabirds, and walruses. Most arctic seal species are dependent on sea ice for a birthing ground and place to rest. With the decrease in glaciers, these seals will become extinct since they directly live on the ice or in the water. Southern seals that have adapted to live on land, will more likely start to migrate north and take over areas that have experienced serious glacier retreat. This will create greater competition between seals and ultimately lead to changes in the food web (Arctic Climate Change). Seabirds, such as ivory gulls, will be impacted by the absence of ice. These birds regularly nest in the mountainous areas which offer protection for their young. Also, these birds scavenge for food between the cracks or on the surface of the ice. In the past 20 years, ivory gulls in Canada have experienced a population decline of 90% (Arctic Climate Change). Walruses will also lose their feeding ground once the ice begins to melt farther. Walruses normally live on the ice edge where clams, their main source of food, is most

The increasing global temperatures have caused many problems in Arctic ecosystems. The increasing warmth has caused ice caps to melt, and permafrost to thaw, causing shifts in the ecosystems around them. 1According to Harris (2005) “Permafrost is soil, rock or sediment that is frozen for more than two consecutive years. In areas not overlain by ice, it exists beneath a layer of soil, rock or sediment, which freezes and thaws annually and is called the "active layer".” (p. 17). While the melting of ice may not seem like a big issue at first glance, its effects are truly catastrophic. Many professionals in this field, such as Houghton (2009) have said 2“Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of

The world warmed by about 0.7°C in the 20th century. Every year in this century has been warmer than all but one in the last century (1998). If carbon-dioxide levels were magically to stabilize where they are now (almost 390 parts per million, 40% more than before the industrial revolution) the world would probably warm by a further half a degree or so as the ocean, which is slow to change its temperature, caught up. But CO2 levels continue to rise. All this affect the ice pack in the Arctic. As temperature rises, ice melts. This causes many problems.

Organisms can live in harsh environments without being prone to danger. The Arctic includes the world's smallest ocean being the Arctic Ocean, as well the world’s largest island, Greenland. In regards to the Arctic, its ocean is covered in floating sea ice throughout the year. The climate of the Arctic varies a lot during the seasonal changes. In the months in the winter season, the sun doesn’t pass the horizon in the Northern Arctic, which in result the temperature significantly be depleted in some areas to -60 degrees Celsius, but to differentiate, during the warmer months of summer, temperatures can cause some areas of the Arctic to melt, due to temperature reaching of 20 degrees Celsius. In the Arctic, the Environmental conditions vary

It contains an expanse of tundra with many marshes and lagoons with rivers situated between foothills of the Brooks Range and the wide, icy waters of the Beaufort Sea. Environmentalists said that this area “is the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge for wildlife and is the center if wildlife activity.” The importance of these resources is not measurable. The Arctic is home to such animals as caribou, polar bears, grizzly bears, musk oxen, whales, wolves and snow geese. This area is full of wildflowers and contains water of excellent, unpolluted quality and quantity. The Arctic Ocean costal plain is an area critical to the survival of many birds and mammals (‘Alaska Wild’).

Glaciers are one of the most fundamental phenomenon on the planet, and much of their purpose and impact on earth has been well documented and published. Ice sheets, Ice Caps and Glaciers trap nearly 90% of the world's fresh water, and are replenished by snowfall each year. Their existence on this planet dates back 650,000,000 years and yet they are always moving, always shifting and always melting. Before, human existence and even during the brief era of humans, ice dominated all of the earth's landmass and have regulated, created and altered many of the landscapes around the world.

The melting ice caps are having a dramatic affect on the polar regions of the earth. For example, the average temperature in the Arctic is rising twice as fast than the rest of the world (nrdc.org). The once prominent ice is now melting at a dramatic speed, which is affecting native people, wildlife, and plants. When the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf splintered, the freshwater lake that it surrounded drained into the ocean, along with the ecosystem that inhabited it. Polar bears, whales, walrus and seals are changing their feeding and migration patterns, making it harder for native people to hunt them (nrdc.org). Because of the flooding, entire villages will be uprooted order to avoid being swamped. Also, the Arctic coastlines are beginning to move as well. The melting ice caps are threatening the native peoples’ cultural identity and their very survival. Ice-dependant animals, such as walruses and ring seals will be greatly affected by the melting ice caps (treehugger.com). They have fewer places to rest on, as well as fewer places to hunt. If the ice caps keep melting, their lives will become in great danger. The melting ice caps are not only affecting the Polar Regions, but they are also affecting the rest of the world as well in the form of rising ocean levels.

People know that “Human-driven climate change” (Fiona Harvey, November 25, 2017) has become an international issue which has triggered to warm air temperature. The Arctic, the regions around the North Pole, has huge ice. Since the more the temperature rises, the more ice melt, climate change and the ice melt have extremely a strong connection. Furthermore, a lot of species live below the sea of the Arctic, also there are some people who place their home in this area. As a result, global warming leads to the change of the Arctic sea ice condition which influences the environment and the people of the Arctic.