Researchers are noting that their models for loss of Arctic sea ice have been generally too conservative. The majority of the models have predicted less sea ice loss than we are experiencing. The changes as shown in the article below point to an ice-free Arctic in 30 years instead of 90 as previously predicted.

Guess what? The faster level of Arctic ice means that the norther oceans will warm faster because the ocean surface does not reflect solar radiation as sea ice does. So, as the Arctic Ocean is exposed to sunshine it warms faster and all of the models on climate change for the planet will need to turn up the speed of their clocks. The warming will be catastrophic. We must respond immediately to limit the impact.

There are way too many feedback loops that will cause global warming to happen faster than has been predicted and there is always the chance for runaway warming that will essentially make the planet uninhabitable for human societies as most of us know them.

Here are a couple of the feedback loops involved with the loss of Arctic sea ice: The Arctic Ocean warms faster than anticipated and the warming of that ocean mass will be felt across the globe in terms of extreme weather events, more El Nino, El Nina events, sea level rise and more. The warmer ocean will cause thawing of permafrost and the ocean bed causing the release of methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases at rates faster than have been modeled.

There’s probably more, but it’s not a pretty picture. We can do something about this. Demand real change now from your elected officials.

[1] clipped from [2] www.sciencedaily.com Ice-free Arctic Ocean Possible In 30 Years, Not 90 As Previously Estimated ScienceDaily (Apr. 3, 2009) — A nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer may happen three times sooner than scientists have estimated. New research says the Arctic might lose most of its ice cover in summer in as few as 30 years instead of the end of the century. Out of the 23 models now available, the new projections are based on the six most suited for assessing sea ice, according to Muyin Wang, a University of Washington climate scientist with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean based at the UW, and James Overland, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. Wang is lead author and Overland is co-author of a paper being published April 3 by the American Geophysical Union’s Geophysical Research Letters. [3]