Arctic sea ice is at its scarcest in 1,500 years, and it doesn't look like the rapid melting is going to stop anytime soon.
A research team set out to discover how the lower ice coverage would affect the environment, a Penn State press release reported. The scientists studied a wide range of animals from algae to walrus, to find out how they would handle the change.
"Arctic sea ice has declined by more than 86,000 square kilometers -- a space slightly larger than the state of South Carolina -- per year," Penn State Professor of Biology, Eric Post, said. "That's an area of critical habitat for many species and the rate of loss is increasing."
The rapid melting could replace highly-reflective sea ice with dark water, which would accelerate the rate of melting and warming even further.
"Arctic sea ice should be thought of as a biome or an ecosystem and the effects of melting and warming on microorganisms living under ice in this biome already have received much attention. However, those animals living near the ice likely are feeling the effects, as well," Post said, RedOrbit reported.
The total living ecosystem in the Arctic is made up of 57 percent "sea-ice algae and sub-ice plankton." The melting ice drastically affects the time the algae blooms. Warming temperatures on shore will cause changes to the soil and plant life, according to the press release.
Both land and sea dwelling animals could find their principle food sources have either changed or disappeared completely.
The changes could also affect animal residents in the opposite way.
"We know that, for some species, sea ice acts as a barrier to intermixing," Post said. "So for these species, ice loss and a lengthening of the ice-free season likely will increase population mixing, reducing genetic differentiation."
This phenomenon has already been observed in certain bears.
Population mixing could, in certain scenarios, carry pathogens to otherwise unexposed populations.
"In addition, a decrease in sea ice in arctic Canada likely will increase contact between eastern and western arctic species, promoting mixing of pathogen communities that previously were isolated," Post said. "For example, phocine distemper virus (PDV) currently affects eastern Arctic seals. But if these seals begin to mix with western arctic seals, the virus may reach other, naive populations."
The loss of sea ice could also open up the area for more human exploration, which is not necessarily good news for the local species.
"Retreating sea ice, longer ice-free seasons, and loss of sea ice are expected to promote development of shipping lanes and increased shipping traffic in areas that formerly were rather inaccessible," Post said. "This increased marine access likely will accelerate the pace of mineral and petroleum exploration in the Arctic, which in turn could affect both terrestrial and marine animals; for example, bowhead whales and Pacific walrus."
