Paul Beckwith on abrupt loss of Arctic sea ice

Abrupt Loss of Arctic Sea-Ice

Paul Beckwith


Persistent cyclones churning up Arctic sea-ice are bad news. Maximum Arctic sea-ice savagery occurred in 2012 from a massive long-lived August cyclone leading to the outstanding record September sea-ice minimum. We just had a big one in early June. There is almost no thicker multi-year ice left in the Arctic; what is left is thin, brittle, slushy, darker, and honeycombed with saline pockets like Swiss cheese. It won’t be around much longer; it is headed to oblivion. Russia and the USA seem happy with this. Little do they know.