Rate Of Snow Pack Disappearance In Arctic Spring Far Ahead Of Worst-Case Models - Environment Canada

[hatrack]

The spring snow pack in the Arctic is disappearing at a much faster rate than anticipated even by climate change models, says a new study by Environment Canada researchers. That has implications for wildlife, vegetation and ground temperatures, say the scientists, who looked at four decades of snow data for the Canadian Arctic and beyond.

Combined with recent news that the Arctic sea ice retreated to an all-time low this summer, it suggests climate change may be happening much faster than expected, said Dr. Chris Derksen, a research scientist for Environment Canada and one of the study’s authors.

“What we discovered was that there is a significant reduction in the amount of snow cover, particularly in May and June... and the rate of that decline is actually slightly faster than the loss of summer sea ice,” Derksen said in an interview.

They studied 40 years of data from across the Arctic from April to June, and found the decline in spring snow cover was actually slightly faster than the decline in sea ice that made headlines around the world.

EDIT

http://www.therecord.com/news/canada/article/830658--spring-snow-pack-in-the-arctic-disappearing-fast-environment-canada-warns

[Auntie Bush]

1. This is sad....but I worry about the Polar Bears.

I wonder how long till they are extinct. Probably a lot sooner than expected!

[glinda]

2. In our life time. Soon. Leaders must stop being stupid.

[AverageJoe90]

3. Sad thing is, their extinction in the wild could occur as soon as a few decades from now.

Temperature rise hasn't quite deviated too much from what the most recent IPCC models predicted, but the one thing which has indeed been far worse than predicted(instead of just somewhat so), was Arctic ice melting.