Increasing Arctic Ice Is What We Don't Hear

Last summer a headline from the Christian Science Monitor read: "Arctic Sea Ice Melting Faster Than Expected". The first line of the article sounded the environmental alarm.

It said: "Arctic Ocean sea ice, one of the most visible indicators for global warming, may be headed for another recordbreaking summer decline." There were similar articles concerning a connection between global warming and melting Arctic sea ice in many other magazines and newspapers at the time.

However, when conditions in the Arctic change, there is no longer any apparent media interest in reporting about Arctic sea ice. So, everyone concerned with global climate change should ask this question; If Arctic Sea ice really is "one of the the most visable indicators for global warming", why is the mainstream media not reporting what is happening in the Arctic Sea today?

The fact is that after last summer's Arctic ice melt fell short of the 2007 record extent, Arctic sea ice has been increasing at the fastest rate seen in years. As of last Friday, it was running ahead of the same day in October of last year by 31.3%. (See: annual comparison in purple shade in picture above - 10/17/2007 5,663,125 square kilometers, 10/17/2008 7,436,406 square kilometers ).

The truth is that despite all the recent media hype, melting Arctic Sea Ice probably has nothing to do with man-made global warming. (See: Melting Arctic Sea Ice And Global Warming Hype) on eWorldvu.com .

In fact, there are several other possible explanations for the recent record melt in Arctic sea ice that have little to with global warming.

A scientist at the University of Fairbanks, Alaska, (Igor Polyakov) points out that pulses of unusually warm water have been entering the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic, which several years later are seen in the ocean north of Siberia. These pulses of water are helping to heat the upper Arctic Ocean, contributing to summer ice melt and helping to reduce winter ice growth.

Another scientist, Koji Shimada of the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology, reports evidence of changes in ocean circulation in the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean.

"Through a complex interaction with declining sea ice, warm water entering the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait in summer is being shunted from the Alaskan coast into the Arctic Ocean, where it fosters further ice loss. Many questions still remain to be answered, but these changes in ocean circulation may be important keys for understanding the observed loss of Arctic sea ice.”

The media reports that the recent record Arctic ice melt is connected with global warming as fact, when it certainly is not. After all the environmental hype concerning record melting Arctic sea ice last summer, there is a notable lack of reporting on the dramatic annual increase (31%) in the extent of Arctic Ice in evidence in the past week.

Indeed, after a summer of Arctic ice melt from global warming media hype, the rapid increase in Arctic Ice this year is a media story that we just don't hear.

The Race For The Bounty Of The North Pole

At the end of last summer, the ice at the North Pole was found to have melted at a record level. The Northwest Passage, the long-sought shipping route through the Arctic, even opened up briefly for the first time in history.

Indeed, last summer, like the summer of 2005, broke all records for loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and the Greenland ice sheet. In September 2007, the Arctic Ocean had 23 percent less sea ice than the previous record low and Greenland's ice sheet melted 19 billion tons more than its previous record. Scientists worldwide are still trying to figure out why the Arctic is warming and ice is melting faster than computer models predict.

In 2008, satellite data from recent weeks has shown the rate of ice melt over the North Pole to be even faster than last year. Scientists now believe the chances of a totally ice-free North Pole in the summer of 2008 are greater than 50:50 because the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by huge swathes of thinner ice formed during a single Arctic year.

The result of the melting ice over the North Pole raises the prospect of being able to extract valuable oil and mineral deposits which have until now been impossible to extract because of the thick sea ice above.

So, various countries are now engaged in a worldwide race to claim the North Pole as their own. Russia, China, Norway, Canada, and the United States are all on an international collision course to stake their claim to the new bounty of an ice free North Pole.

Consider that the US Coast Guard is already planning its first operating base in the area. Also, the Reuters news agency reported last week that "A U.S. Coast Guard cutter called "Healy" has embarked on a three week Arctic voyage to determine the extent of the continental shelf north of Alaska and map the ocean floor, data that could be used for oil and natural gas exploration.

The ultimate goal of the United States mission will be to create a three-dimensional map of the Arctic Ocean floor in a relatively unexplored area known as the Chukchi borderland. The Healy will launch again on September 6, when it will be joined by Canadian scientists aboard an icebreaker, who will help collect data to determine the thickness of sediment in the region. That is one factor a country can use to define its extended continental shelf."

It is an International race to claim the bounty under the melting ice cap of the North Pole. It is destined to become contentious and the controversy has only just begun.

For more on The Race for the Bounty of the North Pole, Read: Russia Claims The North Pole on eWorldvu.com.