Arctic Ice at All-Time Low
There is less sea ice in the Arctic than ever before recorded, thanks in part to a warm, sunny summer, a climate scientist said today. And the melting season isn't even over.
On Sunday the sea ice extent was measured at 1.93 million square miles (5.01 million square kilometers).
"It's continuing to go down at a rapid pace," said Mark Serreze, a senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.
The previous minimum record—set on September 21, 2005—was 2.05 million square miles (5.32 million square kilometers).
By the end of this summer, scientists at the center say, Arctic sea ice may drop below 1.74 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers).
Bruno Tremblay is an assistant professor of ocean and atmospheric sciences at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who is planning a research cruise to the Russian Arctic in September.
In preparation for the trip, he has been observing updated maps of the sea ice extent, which show the quickly melting ice.
"I never thought it would go that low that fast," Tremblay said. "There's still a month of melting in front of us, and we're already past the record of 2005."
Tipping Point?
Sea ice—frozen, floating seawater—melts and refreezes with the seasons, but some of the ice persists year-round in the Arctic.
The current rate of sea ice melt is much faster than predicted by computer models of the global climate system.
Just last year the National Snow and Ice Data Center's Serreze said that the Arctic was "right on schedule" to be completely free of ice by 2070 at the soonest. He now thinks that day may arrive by 2030.
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Yeah, I have better jump on that trip to Greenland, eh? :/
Biofuel is a good thing, right?
Biofuel is liquid or gas transportation fuel derived from biomass. Biomass is material derived from recently living organisms such as plants, animals and their by-products. For example, manure, garden waste and crop residues are all sources of biomass. It is a renewable energy source based on the carbon cycle, unlike other natural resources such as petroleum, coal, and nuclear fuels. Agricultural products specifically grown for biofuel production include corn and soybeans, primarily in the United States; rapeseed, wheat and sugar beet primarily in Europe; sugar cane in Brazil; palm oil in South-East Asia; and jatropha in India.(wikipedia.org)
Biofuel is big news in Brazil, where sugar cane and soybeans tantalize with the possibility of cheaper energy.
At what cost?
Brazil is the world's fifth largest country by landmass, with a sizeable population that is amassed mostly in the coastal cities, away from the Amazon basin and rainforest, which is rapidly being encroached upon. Between 2002 and 2006, an area of the Amazon Rainforest the size of South Carolina was completely decimated, for the purposes of raising cattle and woodlogging.
Deforestation.
Soybeans and sugarcane don't grow in forests, either. Well, at least not efficiently.
Cutting down trees in order to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Sounds like a zero-sum game to me, but I leave the science to the scientists. Hopefully they will prove me wrong.
What will her car run on in twenty years?
Next up: China and the cult of cheap disposables
In doing research for a few articles I wrote recently on sustainable and responsible travel, I decided to take a look back at the countries I have visited lately and write about what their greatest sustainability challenge is.
Today, Niger.
Niger, a country in the Sahel (the southern transitional desert of the Sahara) is one of the driest places on earth. Only 6% of the country (that is twice of the size of the state of Texas) is arable. The low southern stretch of arable land combined with the area along the river Niger must support the entire country.
Niger experiences a rainy season, a time when the rains fall so hard that it washes out the few roads the country has, and creates mud and drama everywhere. It may sound annoying, but the rain is what keeps the country going. These rains support agriculture, and provide drinking water, for the entire year of oppressive heat.
The rains have been on the decline--as much as 25% less rain falls lately. The result can be food crises like the horrible famine in 2005. Erosion and desertification follow--for a country that only has 6% arable land, losing any of it is a big problem, for water security, for food security, for transportation along the river, for wildlife.
The last thing these kids need is more desert in the Sahel! photo by me, 2007.
Next up: Brazil and biofuel.
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