Arctic 'will be ice-free by 2040'

By Ben Quinn and agencies
Last Updated: 9:56am GMT 12/12/2006

Late summer in the Arctic will be ice-free by 2040 or earlier, according to a Nasa-funded climate change forecast.
The melting of the North Pole could have a serious impact on Arctic wildlife
But British scientists have said that the warning could be underestimating the speed at which ice in the North Pole is rapidly melting.Ice in the Arctic has been depleted by 25 per cent over the last quarter of a century, a phenomenon that has already caused major problems for wildlife such as the polar bear.Rising temperatures present a crisis for other creatures, ranging from seals to humpback and fin whales, who face a loss of food sources.Now, American researchers have calculated that the ice is melting so fast that the North Pole will become an open sea in 30 years time, making it possible for ships to sail across the top of the globe.advertisement They predict that while some ice will still be found on the coastlines of Greenland and other northerly islands and regions, the vast bulk of the Arctic Ocean will be open water.The level of ice will remain fairly constant until around 2024, when there will be a dramatic acceleration in the rate of disappearance, according to climatologists at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and two American universities.Only a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, regarded widely as the main cause of global warming, would slow down the ice loss, said the researchers, who assessed the impact of the emissions on the world climate.Marika Holland, who led the study, said that the world had already witnessed major losses in sea ice, but the decrease over the next few decades would be far more dramatic."As the ice retreats, the ocean transports more heat to the Arctic and the open water absorbs more sunlight, further accelerating the rate of warming and leading to the loss of more ice," she added.However, the head of the British Antarctic Survey warned that the forecast may be already out of date, as recent research had indicated that emissions were rising more than twice as fast as in 2000.This was likely to speed up ice loss even further, warned Professor Chris Rapley.

Opdracht 1

De noordpool zal ijs vrij zijn in het jaar 2040

Op de noordpool zal er geen ijs meer bestaan in het jaar 204 volgens een door NASA gefinancierd klimaat verandering programma.
Britse wetenschappers beweren dat het nog sneller kan gaan en dat er over 30 jaar een open zee is waar zich nu de noordpool bevindt. Het overige ijs zal richting groenland en omliggende eilanden drijven. De hoeveelheid ijs zal tot 2024 ongeveer gelijk blijven. Hierna zal er een erg snelle daling plaatsvinden. Alleen als carbon dioxide minder wordt gebruikt zal deze snelle daling kunnen worden voorkomen. In de laatste jaren heeft de wereld al veel ijs verloren maar in de komende jaren zullen er meer dramatische dingen gebeuren met het ijs op de noordpool. Het is mogelijk dat deze voorspellingen al niet meer “up to date” zijn omdat de ijsverliezen nu zelfs al 2 keer zo snel gaan als in 2000.

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