OSLO (Reuters) - Natural swings in the Arctic climate have caused up to half the precipitous losses of sea ice around the North Pole in recent decades, with the rest driven by man-made global warming, scientists said on Monday.
The study indicates that an ice-free Arctic Ocean, often feared to be just years away, in one of the starkest signs of man-made global warming, could be delayed if nature swings back to a cooler mode.
Natural variations in the Arctic climate "may be responsible for about 30–50 percent of the overall decline in September sea ice since 1979," the U.S.-based team of scientists wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Sea ice has shrunk steadily and hit a record low in September 2012 -- late summer in the Arctic -- in satellite records dating back to 1979.
(Score: 2) by dry on Wednesday March 15 2017, @12:57AM (1 child)
People also get confused due to the fact that warming often causes more precipitation and if still below freezing, more snow. Antarctica can warm up a lot and still remain below freezing.
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Wednesday March 15 2017, @02:55AM
On March 24th, 2015, scientists at Argentina’s Esperanza research base in Antarctica recorded the day’s high at a balmy 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit (17.5 degrees Celsius). Yesterday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recognized that reading as the highest-ever temperature on the Antarctic continent.
-- http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2017/0302/UN-agency-announces-record-highs-on-Antarctica-as-scientists-push-for-more-data [csmonitor.com]