Thinning of Ice By Ricky Childs and Kieran Ballinger.

Thinning of Ice

By Ricky Childs and Kieran Ballinger

Key Points•Last Winter the average thickness of the ice decreased by 26cm over the whole Arctic.•In West Arctic, thickness decreased by 49cm.•Research suggests that the sea is receding by about 11.7% a decade.

nsidc.org

Catlin Survey•They captured around 16,000 observations, taking 1500 measurements of the thickness of the ice and snow as well as its density.•Albedo Effect-there’s less and less ice, so there’s more water, which absorbs the heat from the sun, instead of reflecting it like the ice does.

catlinarcticsurvey.com

The Oil - Consequences

•Because the oil needs to be transported to numerous countries, to be used as a fuel, a pipe line is needed to transport it there, the pipe needs to be heated, thus contributing to melting ice.•The oil that is used for fuel, will emit Carbon Dioxide which is one of the main contributors to global warming.

Microsoft Clip art

Positive implications

•The Guardian said:“The Arctic's sea covering has shrunk so much that the Northwest Passage, the fabled sea route that connects Europe and Asia, has opened up for the first time since records began.”•http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/16/climatechange

Migration•Due to the Arctic’s natural resources, migration will occur, leading to major environmental concerns such as:•Pollution-Noise-Water-Air-Light-Oil-gases-Heat (tarmac-black-absorbs heat, melts permafrost)•Buildings•Heating•Transport- food, people,•Waste•Over-fishing

North Atlantic Drift

•Salinity of the ocean’s reduced by large input of fresh water as ice melts•Impact on biodiversity of oceans •Possible implications for ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream as highlighted in “The Day after Tomorrow”

Chilli Kebabs

Due to migration, there was recently an ‘arctic-le’ in the

Telegraph regarding a kebab stand in the most

northerly parts of the Earth, where the average

temperature is -10°C.

Bibliography

•Microsoft Clip Art-Slides 4,5 and 7

•nsidc.org – graph, slide 2•catlinarcticsurvey.com-Slide 3•test.wave.coop/arctic-

backgrounds•Telegraph.com, slide 6