Based on your textbook reading (p.83) and the New York Times Magazine article Do
ID: 114088 • Letter: B
Question
Based on your textbook reading (p.83) and the New York Times Magazine article Does the Disappearance of Sea Ice Matter? https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/magazine/does-the-disappearance-of-sea-ice-matter.html explain the relationship between rising global temperature, sea ice melting, and albedo. Then answer the question posed by the Times Magazine article: Does the Disappearance of Sea Ice Matter? For further background information see All About Sea Ice https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/seaice/environment/index.html
Explanation / Answer
The relationship between rising global temperature, sea ice melting and albedo is that the due to the disappearance of white polar ice cover, we are losing natural air-conditioning system that helped to regulate and stabilize our earth's climate for years. Albedo effect is nothing but the increase in global temperature due to the loss of ice and snow on sea. In this way rising global temperature, sea ice melting and albedo effect are related.
2.Question: Does the disappearance of sea ice matter?
Answer: YES. In recent years earth recorded the warmest annual temperature records ever. Much of the sea ice is turning from white ice to blue water, with a clear indication that sea ice is melting rapidly and this change is due to the effects of global warming and could destabilize the global system.
If we observe the north pole before few decades the ice thickness ranged from 10 to 12 feet thick, but sadly all that ice is long gone. This change represents humanity's most dramatic step in reshaping the face of our planet. The serious fact is that the Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the world. Scientists have termed this process as ARCTIC AMPLIFICATION.
In my opinion the disappearance of sea ice is some serious issue having profound regional climatic impacts. Directly or indirectly this disappearance of ice began to affect the global climate. As there is no ice the open Arctic water absorbs huge amount of solar radiation in summer, there by increasing the water temperature by several degrees Fahrenheit.