North Pole Melting Time-lapse Video
See what is happening on top of the world. Watch a lake of melting ice form over time. The fresh water lake in the video sits on top of ice which is itself floating on top of sea water near the North Pole and documents the 2013 summer ice melt.
In July at some places at the North Pole a melt pond or two is not the issue.
The Time-lapse video was produced by the North Pole Environmental Observatory (NPEO), which is supported by the National Science Foundation. The project began in the spring of 2000 and is an automated Scientific Observatory in the Central Arctic Ocean consisting of un-manned scientific equipment that records the salinity of the water to the thickness and temperature of the ice cover. In addition to photos basic weather information (Temperature, Pressure and wind direction and speed) is also collected as the observatory floats along on the ice.
http://psc.apl.washington.edu/northpole/index.html
Not being reported in the mainstream media is that each year as the North Pole melts summer melt ponds or fresh water lakes have been occurring at least as early as the last decade. According to NPEO’s website “Each summer, solar radiation melts the snow cover and 10-50 cm of the sea ice upper surface. Depending on the porosity of the sea ice, the number of cracks, and distribution of openings at the edge of individual ice floes, some of the melt water from the surface drains to the ocean and the rest forms melt ponds. These are fresh water ponds lying on top of the sea ice with their surfaces slightly above sea level.”
In response to the often asked Climate Change question: Is the appearance of the melt ponds due to global warming?
“No, not specifically. These melt ponds are a normal part of the seasonal cycle of the sea ice. With respect to global warming, we are more concerned when we see warm air temperatures in the winter that inhibit ice growth and the appearance of heat in the ocean that would melt the bottom surface of the ice.” However, “we are more concerned about the extensive melt pond coverage that we have found on the Alaskan side of the Arctic Ocean as part of our Office of Naval Research-funded Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys on U.S. Coast Guard Arctic Domain Awareness flights.”
Typically July is the warmest month in the area of the North Pole. 2013 was 1-3 degrees celsius above average this year which helped also produce the 5th smallest Arctic winter peak ice accumulation in the last 35 years of satellite measurements.
Watch the North Pole Environmental Observatory Time-lapse Video:
NASA Video about Disappearing Arctic Sea Ice – Melting Polar Ice Cap. This video shows the seasonal change in the extent of the Arctic sea ice between March 1, 2012 and February 28, 2013, which covers the previous Arctic Sea Ice Max, which was the 5th-Lowest on Record.
Source: http://psc.apl.washington.edu/northpole/index.html
The bottom line: The Summer Melt Ponds featured in the video may not be a huge concern since those ponds could be just be what’s a normal summer season on the sea ice where the cameras happened to be located. However, it is unknown if such melting occurred on the same regular basis before the arrival of NPOE. However the NPEO is concerned by the extensive melt pond coverage that has recently been found on the Alaskan side of the Arctic Ocean.
North Pole Environmental Observatory Photos and related Gallery
Green-Eco-EV News Reporting by Ken Green Burridge
Kenneth Burridge test-drives electric Nissan LEAF in Melbourne Australia
EV of the Year Judge, independent green journalist, photographer, author and sustainability activist that has published over 1000 articles. Mr Burridge’s travels have taken him to over 30 countries and 300+ major cities. He is originally from the USA, but has been residing in Australia for the last seven years. Connect to Ken Burridge on: Twitter, facebook, Google+, Linked in or website
