
A news story from Miami Herald by Robert S. Boyd says that an international team of 46 scientists from 10 countries has released a report concerning the temperature in the Arctic. The team says that the Arctic’s temperature last fall has hit an all time high, which is more than 9 degrees Fahrenheit or 5 degrees Centigrade above normal and has remained as high this year. In fact, Jackie Richter-Menge, a climate expert at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H, and editor of the latest annual Arctic Report Card has said that the year 2007 was the warmest year on record in the Arctic.
According to the Arctic Report Card, Arctic temperatures naturally peak in October and November, after sea ice shrinks during the summer. The shrinkage lets more of the sun's ray heat the ocean rather than reflecting it back into space. As a result, the ocean is warming and causing global sea levels to rise even faster than predicted. The report further states that the summer of 2007 has set a record low for sea ice in the Arctic, threatening reindeer, walruses and polar bears and opening shipping lanes above the Arctic Circle.


Sources:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/729187.html
1001 Science Questions Answered
http://www.worlddiscovery.co.uk/packages/the-polar-bear-migration-longer-itinerary_46.htm
Picture:
Reader’s Digest October Edition,
http://www.ratemyeverything.net/image/4428/0/Global_Warming_Cartoon.ashx
No comments:
Post a Comment