Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: Satellite‐derived estimates of sea‐ice age and thickness are combined to produce a proxy ice thickness record for 1982 to the present. These data show that in addition to the well‐documented loss of perennial ice cover as a whole, the amount of oldest and thickest ice within the remaining multiyear ice pack has declined significantly. The oldest ice types have essentially disappeared, and 58% of the multiyear ice now consists of relatively young 2‐ and 3‐year‐old ice compared to 35% in the mid‐1980s. Ice coverage in summer 2007 reached a record minimum, with ice extent declining by 42% compared to conditions in the 1980s. The much‐reduced extent of the oldest and thickest ice, in combination with other factors such as ice transport that assist the ice‐albedo feedback by exposing more open water, help explain this large and abrupt ice loss.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2007gl032043
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2133316466