Climate Letter #1520

What the changes in Arctic ice conditions mean for all the rest of us.  This was written for The Conversation by a professor of geography at Loughborough University in the UK.  The presentation is outstanding, with too much interesting information for me to summarize, but I will have a followup comment on one of his charts.

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–This chart comparison of Arctic and global temperature change since 1850 is the best of its type that I can recall.  The behavior of the Arctic between 1920 and 1970 makes it look like the tail that wags the dog as far as the globe is concerned.  Scientists have often struggled over how to explain the bulge in global readings that peaked around 1940 and then reversed itself, all happening before pressure from CO2 emissions became a fully dominating force.  Maybe we are looking at it.
https://images.theconversation.com/files/294341/original/file-20190926-51401-143rmsg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip
Mongabay has an equally solid presentation focused on the disintegration of Arctic sea ice over the last forty years.  There are several different ways of measuring the decline, all clearly described with animated charts.  Don’t miss the one that uses color to show changes in Arctic sea ice age.
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Researchers found more than 65,000 meltwater lakes on the surface of East Antarctica’s ice sheet during the summer month of January, 2017 (Durham University).  “The images showed that meltwater lakes often cluster just a few kilometres from where the ice sheet begins to float on the sea, but some can exist hundreds of kilometres inland and at quite high elevations, up to 1,000m…..We’ve known for some time that lakes are forming in East Antarctica, but we were surprised at quite how many had formed and all around the ice sheet margin…..It’s concerning because we know that in other areas large numbers of lakes draining can fracture apart floating ice shelves, causing the inland ice to speed-up…..Whilst there is no imminent threat to the stability of the ice sheet, our study has shown which areas we should be keeping an eye on over the next few years and beyond.”
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A progress report on the social movement in opposition to climate change (Quartz).  The reality is that the coalition of big governments and big corporations is still winning, and emissions are still rising:  “If all countries achieved their stated goals, we would still be on course for a global average temperature rise of closer to 4°C, compared to pre-industrial times. It will make parts of the world uninhabitable, destabilize many countries, and create hundreds of millions of climate refugees…..The world hasn’t done enough, but we’ve not been sitting still either. We’re in that middle space where the pressure continues to build, even though it hasn’t yet crossed the threshold that helps overcome inertia and liberates the system…..Slowly but surely, the balance is shifting, with many people, some corporations, and a few governments changing sides. Once we hit that social tipping point, the global emissions chart will start to bend downwards.”  That is a good assessment of the current situation and the important impact that social pressure can have if it keeps on growing and everyone starts to pitch in.
–Moreover, as demonstrated here, pension trusts could make a critical difference, if properly motivated (The Ecologist).
Carl

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