According to recent research published in the Nature Journal, the melting of the Arctic Sea Ice in the future decades is unavoidable. Even if carbon emissions were to be drastically reduced worldwide, it would not be able to stop the melting of the Arctic Sea Ice. As per scientists, the Arctic might still experience summers without sea ice by the mid-2050s, even if the world achieves huge reductions in the planet-heating pollutants now.

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What is happening with the Arctic sea ice?

Arctic sea ice is vanishing during the course of the year, according to multiple IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports. IPCC report further says that the Arctic will be ice-free by 2081-2100 if global emissions cause temperatures to rise over 4.5°C. To determine how the Arctic sea ice was changing, the researchers examined trends from 1979 to 2019 by comparing various satellite data and climate models. As per NASA, Sea ice has already been rapidly vanishing in the area. According to 2022 research, the Arctic has warmed up four times as quickly as the rest of the world during the past several decades.

With reference to earlier predictions, maintaining the summer ice might not need drastic measures to halt global warming. According to the most recent studies, only drastic reductions in emissions may be able to stop the impacts of the warming that is currently taking place in terms of Arctic sea ice. This does not imply that there will be no ice on the lake since frozen patches are anticipated to last for some time in specific Arctic regions. Instead, 1 million square kilometers, or 386,000 square miles, of ice, is the cutoff point that scientists use. The seasonal minimum ice cover in the Arctic at that time was less than 15% of what it is now.

Why is the Arctic sea ice important?

The worldwide climate and changes in Arctic water temperatures are influenced by Arctic sea ice. It keeps the polar regions cold and preserves the earth’s energy balance because it reflects more sunlight back to space than liquid water. By creating a barrier between the somewhat warmer water below and the colder air above, sea ice also helps to keep the air cool. Large, frozen stores of methane are found in the Arctic tundra and marine strata, which pose a climatic risk if they thaw and unleash the powerful greenhouse gas.

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