What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic!

Sukriti Kapur, Environmental Scientist (Instagram: @allthingsenvironment)

The Arctic, a polar region located in the northernmost part of the world, is crucial to the survival of species on this planet. What may seem as an inaccessible and remote region, is in fact brimming with varieties of flora and fauna. Land within the Arctic region has permanently frozen underground ice known as permafrost. The Arctic, however, is at the forefront of climate change, with warming here taking place twice as fast as rest of the world.

Arctic sea ice acts as a huge white reflector at the top of the planet, bouncing some of the sun’s rays back into space, helping keep the Earth at an even temperature. As the sea ice melts there’s less ice to reflect the rays, and more heat is absorbed by the ocean, magnifying the warming effect. The Arctic tundra that is exposed absorbs more radiation and contributes to warming. This mechanism is known as positive feedback.

The increase in CO2 is much the same around the world. This, however, may not be the case for Methane. Methane is a much smaller constituent of the atmosphere than CO2, but it is a much more potent greenhouse gas, i.e., it traps more heat than CO2. As soils warm, and permafrost melts, it releases large amount of methane into the atmosphere, which causes the earth to warm even faster. (Another positive feedback mechanism)

Loss of sea ice is the most conspicuous and well-published consequence of a warming Arctic. Sea ice forms each winter by freezing of ocean surface. Some of the ice melts during the ensuing summer, and some survives the summer to enter another winter and become ice that is two, three, four or more years old. With warming, less of the ice surviving the summer to become multi-year ice. The Arctic basin is coming to be dominated by annual ice. Ice still forms each winter but it forms later and breaks up earlier than in the past years. It does not reach the thickness of multi-year ice, and more of it has disappeared by the end of the summer. With this, the ocean surface has become absorptive rather than reflective of radiation.

The Arctic acts as a global refrigerator by drawing warm ocean water from the south, cooling it, and ultimately sinking it toward the ocean bottom. But what happens in the Arctic, does not stay in the Arctic. We are in a crisis situation, and the only time to actively change is now!

Pictures depict The Arctic: pictures from Svalbard, 2019. All photos belong to Sukriti Kapur!