After abnormal heatwaves this year in the Arctic, the region’s oldest and thickest sea ice has thinned out considerably—to the point of breaking up in recent days.
As the Guardian reported, the Norwegian Ice Service found this week that the ice cover in the area off the northern coast of Greenland has been at record low levels at least 14 days in the past month, sometimes reaching levels 40 percent lower than the average for this time of year.
The new development is causing grave concerns among climate scientists regarding their previously-held beliefs about the Arctic’s ice.
“Open water off the north coast of Greenland is unusual,” Ruth Mottram of the Danish Meteorological Institute told the Guardian. “This area has often been called ‘the last ice area’ as it has been suggested that the last perennial sea ice in the Arctic will occur here.”
Heatwaves last February and this month as well as warm winds have pushed ice that is generally about 65 feet thick away from Greenland’s northern coast. Warming trends that have been maintained over the last 15 years, according to scientists, has made ice that’s usually packed close together, much less stable.
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