Arctic set for record-breaking melt this summer
Wildlife,
and scientists, will be scrambling
NOAA,
20
May, 2016
The
record heat that is baking Alaska is poised to smash a host of
climate records in 2016, including the earliest snowmelt date at
NOAA’s Barrow Observatory, the northernmost point in the nation.
Staff
at the observatory reported
snowmelt occurred May 13, the earliest snowmelt date in 73 years
of record-keeping, beating the previous mark set in 2002 by a full 10
days.
The
early melting follows a record-setting winter that saw temperatures
average more than 11 degrees above normal for the 49th State,
shattering the previous record set in 2015. At 320 miles north
of the Arctic Circle, Barrow is usually one of the last places in the
United States to lose snow cover.
Baked
Alaska
An intensely warm winter and spring are melting climate records across Alaska. The January-April 2016 period was an incredible 11 degrees above normal, setting the stage for a potentially unprecedented summer. (NOAA)
Snow is not the only thing that’s vanishing. Preliminary data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center indicate 2016 will set the recordfor minimum winter sea-ice extent offsite link, eclipsing the 2015 mark. Satellite photos from mid-May depict an early sea-ice breakup with an ominous series of openings, known as leads, extending deep into the Arctic.
This
series of images from April 1 to 24, 2016, shows recent fracturing
and rotation of sea ice near Alaska and the western Canadian Arctic
archipelago.
Animation:
Arctic ice on the move
This
series of images from April 1 to 24, 2016, shows recent fracturing
and rotation of sea ice near Alaska and the western Canadian Arctic
archipelago. (National Snow and Ice Data Center/www.nsidc.org )
David
Douglas, research biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said
this spring’s conditions illustrate how fragile and dynamic pack
ice has become. “It looks like late June or early July right now,”
he said. “Polar bears are having to make their decisions about how
to move and where to go on thinner ice pack that’s mostly
first-year ice.” Walrus could also face a tough summer, he said.
For
40 years, wildlife biologist George Divoky has studied another Arctic
species, the black guillemot, marking the start of egg-laying season
for the fish-eating seabird on nearby Cooper Island. Guillemots
generally lay their first eggs 10 days after snow-out in Barrow.
Divoky, director of the nonprofit Friends of Cooper Island research
institute, predicts a record early start to the season this year.
Early
ice-out is a double-edged sword for guillemots, he said. The birds do
well during the early part of the season, but when the ice pulls off
shore, it takes the birds’ forage fish with it, reducing chick
survival.
Intense
spring heat also perturbs a host of biological and chemical cycles,
from tundra green-up and wildlife breeding seasons, to fluctuations
of atmospheric gases like methane and carbon dioxide. For scientists,
climate change presents an unending — if disconcerting — series
of research opportunities.
“It’s
like a train wreck you can’t look away from,” Divoky said. “You
never know what you’re going to see and this year’s as big a
mystery as any.”
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