At present, the ice and snow in the Arctic is melting faster than originally expected. It can be seen from the comparison chart of Arctic sea ice area in 1984 and 2012 that the reduction of sea ice area is very obvious. In the picture, the blue part is sea water and the white part is sea ice concentration area.
Global warming is the culprit of the rapid melting of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean: since 1951, the climate warming trend in the Arctic has been about twice the global average. Among them, the average temperature in Greenland has increased by 1.5 ℃, while the average global warming in the same period is 0.7 ℃. Secondly, the obvious reduction of sea ice thickness, the younger ice age and the increase of ice melting pools will also accelerate the melting of sea ice in summer. The thickness of ice and snow in the Arctic is very important. The climate there may affect the world. Some people call it the earth's air conditioning system. The melting of ice and snow in the Arctic circle has led to the frequent occurrence of cold winter in Asia and Europe in recent years, exacerbated the occurrence of extreme weather and meteorological disasters in East Asia, and is also one of the main reasons for the frequent occurrence of meteorological disasters in winter and spring in China in recent years. Due to global warming, the area and thickness of Arctic ice have decreased sharply. Polar bears who rely on floating ice as a platform to rest and catch seals are in a very difficult situation. In summer, they have to swim a longer distance to find the floating ice where they live. They are often exhausted, lose weight and even drown. What's more, because there was no way to find food, they had to eat their own cubs.
At present, there are two different views on the future evolution trend of Arctic sea ice. One view is that the trend of Arctic sea ice reduction is irreversible, and there will be an ice free Arctic Ocean in the summer of 2030. Another view is that the melting of Arctic sea ice is phased and can be recovered. The short-term trend of sea ice reduction is caused by the interdecadal (or multi-year intergenerational) changes of the climate system itself. The existing observation data show that compared with 2007, the Arctic sea ice area from 2008 to 2010 increased for three consecutive years in September, but decreased significantly in 2011. The understanding of the evolution of Arctic sea ice needs to continue to strengthen monitoring and carry out more rigorous scientific research.