Warmer Arctic summers, higher sea level by 2100

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

Ice sheets that flow across both the Arctic and Antarctic may melt more quickly than expected by 2100, causing sea levels to rise significantly, according to two studies released last week.

The studies, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Arizona, say that by 2100, Arctic summers could be as warm as they were thousands of years ago, when sea levels rose six meters higher than today.

The two studies, which appear in the March 24 issue of Science, say rising greenhouse gas emissions over the next century could warm the Arctic by three to five degrees in summer. This is about as warm as it was 130,000 years ago, between two ice ages.

Projections show that during this interglacial period, melt from Greenland and other Arctic sources raised sea level by as much 3.5 meters. Antarctic melting may then have pushed sea level up to six meters higher.

These studies are the first to link Arctic and Antarctic melting in the last interglacial period. They say the rise in sea levels produced by Arctic warming and melting could have helped destabilize ice shelves at the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet and led to their collapse.

If similar events occurred today, greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could speed up the melting.

Meanwhile, polar ocean temperatures continue to warm, and Norwegian and Russian researchers say this winter is the warmest ever in the Barents Sea.

According to the Norwegian Marine Research Institute, climate changes triggered by industrial activities are the reason behind the temperature increase. The previous temperature records in the area were set in 1938 and 1939.

One of the consequences of the higher temperatures is the movement of fish stocks further north.