The Arctic has been melting months after months. It is estimated that by the end of September 2016, Arctic sea may reach its lowest level since the beginning of record keeping with the help of a satellite.
The rate at which Arctic ice is melting has landed researchers in a tizzy. The trend in the depleting ice sheet became particularly noticeable in 2015 when a combination of El Nino and the underlying effect of global warming resulted in a warm weather.
The trend continued into 2016 when the temperature at the North pole rose as much as fifty degrees Fahrenheit above the normal temperature. The effect persisted for a long time and the Arctic continued to stay warmer throughout January and February.
By the month of March, the atmosphere was still heated and the ice sheet has already started to look thinner than before. Soon, NASA confirmed that the Arctic just had its smallest wintertime on record. The ice had started to melt and the phenomenon has continued since then.
According to NASA sea ice scientist Walt Myer, 2016 is going to be a very low ice year. Myer predicts that if melting of the ice sheet continues to take place at the current rate, then the world will soon be devoid of summertime ice and the complex feedback that exist because of the ice.
Albedo is one such complex feedback that refers to the reflectivity of the surface of the planet. If there is no shiny, ice-covered surface around and just the dark ocean water, the Arctic would end up absorbing, even more, heat.
Albedo is already changing the Arctic temperature. The absorption of more heat into the system during summer clearly indicates that there will be more warm temperatures in the fall.
