NOAA: 2010 Arctic Report Card
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports the effects of warmer temperatures in the Arctic are spreading further south than previously found.
According to findings of the 69 international scientists, the minimum ice cover, which typically–and did–occur during September, reached levels 22% lower than the average of the last 30 years. Comparatively, this is equivalent to the area covered by Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington DC, and West Virginia.
Cooler Arctic temperatures are unlikely to return.
Given that melting ice cover contributes to rising sea levels, flooding and increasingly frequent and intense severe storms, these scientific findings–much like those before them–highlight a significant and serious threat to the global community that cannot be ignored.
