Rising surface temperature prime cause of retreating Barents Sea ice cover

Rising sea-surface temperature in the Barents Sea, northeast of Scandinavia, is the prime cause of the retreating winter ice cover for the past 26 years, a new Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences (IMCS) study has revealed.

Washington, Sept 18 : Rising sea-surface temperature in the Barents Sea, northeast of Scandinavia, is the prime cause of the retreating winter ice cover for the past 26 years, a new Rutgers' Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences (IMCS) study has revealed.

Jennifer Francis, associate research professor at Rutgers said, the recent decreases in winter ice cover was clear evidence that the Arctic ice pack would continue on its trajectory of rapid decline.

In their study published in the Geophysical Review Letters, Francis and Elias Hunter, found that greenhouse gases was rising average winter-time sea-surface temperature of the Barents Sea - up by three degrees Celsius since 1980s. This, in turn, was melting more ice, the study said.

The researchers used satellite information dating back 26 years to perform their study.

For long, climatologists have known that the extent of perpetual, summer ice cover in the Arctic has been shrinking, but until the past few years, the average amount of winter ice has been relatively steady.

The winter ice amount is important because if it begins to decrease, scientists believe it is an indicator that enough extra heat from the Sun is being absorbed in summer in new open water areas so that the ice grows less in winter and is more easily melted the following summer, leading to even less summer ice.

Researchers say should the warming trend continue - and there are indications that it will - there would be considerable economic and political implications.

"Fishing, shipping, oil exploration will all be easier to do in the Arctic if there is less ice around for a shorter time," Francis said.

ANI