 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Arctic ice pack at third lowest extent since 1979: US
Washington (AFP) Sept 18, 2009 The Arctic sea ice pack thawed to its third smallest size on record during the northern hemisphere summer of 2009, US government scientists said, citing satellite images. While the sea ice pack at its lowest 2009 point was slightly larger than both the record-low ice pack measured in 2007 and the summer 2008 ice pack, the data confirms a shrinkage trend seen over the past 30 years, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center said in a statement late Thursday. The Arctic sea ice pack size has fallen sharply since 1979, especially during the summer months, the center said. As of September 12, the surface of the Arctic sea ice pack was 5.1 million square kilometers (1.97 million square miles), its smallest point of the year. At the peak of the summer 2007 melt the Arctic sea ice pack measured 4.1 million square kilometers -- a record low -- while the following year at the lowest point it measured 4.5 million square kilometers. The summer 2009 low point however was still 1.61 million square kilometers (620,000 square miles) less than the annual 1979 to 2000 average ice pack size, the NSIDC said. The center's glaciologists attributed the difference in the size of the 2009 ice pack compared to the previous two years to prevailing winds blowing in a different direction. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Beyond the Ice Age
Satellites And Submarines Give The Skinny On Sea Ice ThicknessPasadena CA (SPX) Sep 10, 2009 This summer, a group of scientists and students - as well as a Canadian senator, a writer, and a filmmaker - set out from Resolute Bay, Canada, on the icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent. They were headed through the Northwest Passage, but instead of opening shipping lanes in the ice, they had gathered to open up new lines of thinking on Arctic science. Among the participants in the shipboard ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook