The cryosphere refers to any place on Earth where water is solid—as either ice or snow—and it’s hurting. This summer, scientists at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Centre revealed that an area of sea ice larger than Alberta disappeared from the Arctic, and that Arctic sea ice as a whole has retreated to an all-time low.
Now, a new study released by Environment Canada reports that the Arctic’s spring snow pack is also disappearing, and it’s vanishing at a much faster clip than anticipated. An assessment of 40 years of data revealed that Arctic spring snow cover was declining at a slightly faster rate than the decline in sea ice that grabbed headlines a few months ago.
The authors found that, between 1979 and 2011, June snow cover in the Arctic declined by more than 17% each decade!
Chris Derksen, a research scientist for Environment Canada and one of the study’s authors, says ‘the decline in spring snow cover has profound implications for wildlife,’ including the loss of habitat for polar bears.
And it’s affecting ground temperatures, too. Bright, white snow protects the earth from solar energy by reflecting it back into space. When snow melts, the darker, exposed ground warms by absorbing more of the sun’s energy.
Previous studies have found that snow isn’t arriving any earlier, either. When considered alongside other changes in the cryosphere, Derksen writes that ‘there is increasing evidence of an accelerating cryospheric response to global warming.’
Nature is an objective judge. It’s time to take climate change seriously.
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Spring Arctic snow pack melting fast, study warns
Photo, taken on September 15, 2011, courtesy of NASA via Flickr.