A new study says that climate change has recently attacked crucial Arctic sea ice thickness in two sudden big hits instead of steady nibbling. According to the study, about 15 years ago, sea ice quickly lost more than half its thickness and became weaker... more prone to melting and less likely to recover. This emphasizes the importance of two big 'regime shifts' that changed the complexion of the Arctic, says the study.
Reportedly, those big hits came in the years 2005 and 2007, while before this, the Arctic sea ice was older in a way that made it difficult to move out of the region. This helped the polar area act as the globe's air conditioner even in warmer summers. But now the ice is thinner, younger and easier to push out of the Arctic, putting that crucial cooling system at more risk.
According to the study, before 2007, 19% of the sea ice in the Arctic was at least 13 feet thick and taller than most elephants, but now only about 9.3% of the ice is at least that thick. And the age of the ice has dropped by more than a third, from an average of 4.3 years to 2.7 years.
The study lead author Hiroshi Sumata said: " Ice is much more vulnerable than before because it's thinner, it can easily melt. Thicker sea ice is crucial to all sorts of life in the Arctic."
Scientists had known before that sea ice was shrinking in extent and getting thinner, but this 'flushing' is key. 'Once the ocean has accumulated that heat, it can't go back easily. So in the future, more big warmer shifts can happen to make ice thinner and weaker, but don’t count on sudden, healing cooling changes', warn scientists.
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