A Strange Twist on Climate and Security
The British newspaper The Guardian reported on Sunday, July 26, 2009, that the Bush administration had classified 1-meter resolution satellite images that demonstrated the loss of summer sea ice in the arctic. The Obama administration, according to the Guardian, declassified the images last week.
Here are the images of Barrow, Alaska–taken in July 2006 and July 2007.
Images released by the U.S. government show the loss of summer sea ice near Barrow, Alaska.
The loss of summer sea ice is significant because it lends credence to what climate scientists have been saying about the warming of the atmosphere. The danger, of course, is that as we lose more and more sea ice, less energy is reflected from the sun back into space, warming the seas and the air even more and deepening the impact of the changing climate.
The U.S. Navy has been concerned about Arctic sea ice for more than a decade. As sea ice diminishes, it opens the door for greater commercial and military activities–something that naval planners have to consider as they think about the characteristics of the future Navy we are building today.
