Melting Arctic sea ice has contributed considerably more to warming at the top of the world than previously predicted by climate models, according to a new analysis of 30 years of satellite observations…
Now, scientists based at the University of California, San Diego have analyzed Arctic satellite data from 1979 to 2011, and have found that average Arctic albedo levels have decreased from 52 percent to 48 percent since 1979 — twice as much as previous studies based on models have suggested, the team reports Feb. 17 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [See stunning photos of Earth’s vanishing ice]
See also: As Arctic melts, marine mammals become sentinels for disease, by Jude Isabella, TheTyee.ca, reporting from the AAAS annual conference in Chicago, Feb 18, 2014.
