Global warming not responsible for record loss of sea ice!
LONDON, England - March 22, 2010 - Strong winds and not global warming are to blame for much of the record-breaking loss of ice in the Arctic Ocean in recent years, new research reveals.
Ice blown out of the Arctic area by winds can explain the one-third drop of sea ice since 1979, scientists believe.
The study helps to explain the huge loss of ice in the region during the summers of 2007 and 2008, after which some commentators suggested the Arctic Ocean would be ice-free during the summertime within a decade.
The researchers at the Japan Agency For Marine-Earth Science and Technology do not question whether global warming is also melting the ice.
However, their study does raise doubts about claims that the melting of ice in the region has passed the “tipping point” and will accelerate in coming years.
Scientist Masayo Ogi and her collegues looked at records of how winds have behaved since satellite measurements of sea ice began in 1979. She claimed this marks the first time the Arctic winds have been measured in this way.
The observed changes in wind patterns coincided with years where the loss of sea ice was the most acute.
Half of the variation in maximum ice loss each September is down to changes in wind patterns, the scientists found.
