No mention of missing “M’s” here in this press release from University of Melbourne
Melting sea ice has been shown to be a major cause of warming in the Arctic according to a University of Melbourne study.
Findings published in Nature today reveal the rapid melting of sea ice has dramatically increased the levels of warming in the region in the last two decades.
Lead author Dr James Screen of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne says the increased Arctic warming was due to a positive feedback between sea ice melting and atmospheric warming.
“The sea ice acts like a shiny lid on the Arctic Ocean. When it is heated, it reflects most of the incoming sunlight back into space. When the sea ice melts, more heat is absorbed by the water. The warmer water then heats the atmosphere above it.”
“What we found is this feedback system has warmed the atmosphere at a faster rate than it would otherwise,” he says.
Using the latest observational data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, Dr Screen was able to uncover a distinctive pattern of warming, highly consistent with the loss of sea ice.
“In the study, we investigated at what level in the atmosphere the warming was occurring. What stood out was how highly concentrated the warming was in the lower atmosphere than anywhere else. I was then able to make the link between the warming pattern and the melting of the sea ice.”
The findings question previous thought that warmer air transported from lower latitudes toward the pole, or changes in cloud cover, are the primary causes of enhanced Arctic warming.
Dr Screen says prior to this latest data set being available there was a lot of contrasting information and inconclusive data.
“This current data has provided a fuller picture of what is happening in the region,” he says.
Over the past 20 years the Arctic has experienced the fastest warming of any region on the planet. Researchers around the globe have been trying to find out why.
Researchers say warming has been partly caused by increasing human greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the Arctic sea ice has been declining dramatically. In summer 2007 the Arctic had the lowest sea ice cover on record. Since then levels have recovered a little but the long-term trend is still one of decreasing ice.
Professor Ian Simmonds, of the University’s School of Earth Sciences and coauthor on the paper says the findings are significant.
“It was previously thought that loss of sea ice could cause further warming. Now we have confirmation this is already happening.”
Richard111 says:
I don’t know what fantasy world you live on, but Al Gore has already assured us that Arctic Ice will all gone in five (or was that seven) years. Since he invented the Internet, that’s good enough for me.
I read this press release earlier today and dismissed it until I can see the full text. A bunch of selected quotes without seeing the full text and methodology leaves far to many unanswered questions. Perhaps they just have a different definition of the arctic.
“Lead author Dr James Screen of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne says the increased Arctic warming was due to a positive feedback between sea ice melting and atmospheric warming.”
I’m thinking anyone that had anything to do with James Screen being awarded any academic title should be publicly horse whipped. No way he got cause and effect wrong. Do they not bother checking reality anymore? Or are the models correct regardless of what reality is telling them?
“Melting sea ice major cause of warming in Arctic”
Every time I melt ice it causes cooling! 🙁 I must be doing something wrong…………….
It’s a good thing that the arctic sea ice is back to normal as I’m getting confused by this educated BS ( bad science) declarations of fact.
Since then levels have recovered a little but the long-term trend is still one of decreasing ice.
Recovery is mpossible once the process starts, the trend irreversible.
Once the warming starts the region cannot escape the GCMchild radius, where it will circle the Arctic Drain until ripped to pieces in a searing release of hidden heat. ConTRoL-Carbon dioxide will not abort the program.
Oh, but that means that it will all be transported out to the South Polar Jet, where it will then accumulate until the Earth capsizes.
Before that happens, CERN will be tranformered into GigaLaser, pulverizing unnecessary parts of the Moon, thereby creating a torus of heat-shielding dust. Thus plunging into the Next Ice Age, after having saved GAIA from the angry Venusian broilers. The chosen select will depart for Spitzbergen to their suspended animation cells, to reawaken in the next Garden of Eden 80,000 years hence.
With all the AGW hot inspiration about, it’s so hard to resist the temptation to write PolySci Fi.
Amino Acids in Meteorites says: “Is this even worth blogging about?”
Uh, no.
At what part of the year were measurements made. I recall a ‘scientist’ observing the warming of the air above the Arctic during October and proclaiming this as evidence of a warming Arctic, even though this is the time and what happens when the ice forms. We have had some fairly strong Autumn freeze ups so could Dr James be measuring the heat given off when the water freezes? It would be interesting to see something more substantial than a press release.
This paper was produced without actual observations of conditions in the Arctic by the researchers, courtesy of satellite data. I bet they never left their cosy Melbourne office. Its conclusions are likely as out of this world as the satellite itself. I notice that they do not provide any figures for the real, actual, measured, temperature of the ocean before or after the ice has melted, despite blaming higher water temps for creating a positive feedback. Methinks it probably changed by less than 1 deg C, & hovers near zero all year. The thickness of the layer of warmer water is likely 10 – 20 cm. Anyone know the facts?
Please, folks, have a little compassion. We Melburnians have just come through a long, hot ─ and rather debilitating ─ summer.
Light, heat, and energy. THEY DO NOT EQUATE!!!! Yes, they are (poor) substitutes for each other, but, they are not the same. Kelvins = almost, but not quite. I had more to say, but, I’m too damned full of beer. Is it if I had the time and lunacy to spew whatever that I too could be called, “Doctor”? I hear that term today and almost spit it from my mouth.
I’m mystified by most of the other comments. Seems straightforward enough. The theory said that some of the atmospheric warming over the arctic was due to more mixing from lower latitudes, and some due to reduced albedo locally. The Melbourne researchers claim the distribution of the temperatures implies it’s (now) more of the second than had been thought. Why all the flak?
I thought it used to be that warmth caused ice to melt. This paper now says melting ice causes warmth. In the 70s John Holdren linked the cooling to human activity. He now insists the warming is caused by human activity. He hasn’t weighed in regarding the recent cooling as far as I’ve heard, but I’d expect that to be human caused as well.
Some one needs to compile the long history of circular logic used by these people in support of their political ideology.
“but the long-term trend is still one of decreasing ice” HOW DO THY KNOW THIS?.
I went to look at the paper, but the first sentence, “The rise in Arctic near-surface air temperatures has been almost twice as large as the global average in recent decades”, indicates a paper by Mark “Death Spiral” Serreze as one of the sources. Not the best start…
John F. Hultquist says: April 29, 2010 at 9:30 pm
“Other than this, the report seems to be about 3 years behind the data.”
Got a vested interest in an issue?
Need something for ‘new’ for the ‘news’?
Is your special interest group not getting enough interest?
We can help. We have a stockpile more that 10,000 unpublished papers that can prove almost anything. Melting ice causes warming, no problem, whale excrement counters climate change, got it, CO2 causes algae bloom/kills algae, we got ’em both.
Whatever you need just fill in what you want to be the cause and what you want to be the effect and we are sure to have something ‘new’ for you!
http://www.NeedAnUppublishedReport.com
Note: ‘new’ in this context means not previously published, Dead Sea scrolls require special release, not available in all states, some restrictions apply, limitation of liability may not be applicable in all jurisdictions, your mileage may vary, be kind rewind.
George Turner says:
April 29, 2010 at 9:44 pm
No, no, no. It is clearly indicating that the expansion of ice causes winter, and the melting of ice causes summer. We’ve just been getting it wrong all these years because we’ve been using non-post-normal science instead of the post-normal science that HGW has unearthed for us to benefit from.
[/sarcasm mode off (I think)]
Derek B.
So it is more to do with natural variability and not the Greenhouse Effect?
condensing water wapour to water releases heat
fusing water to ice releases heat
So the inverse must also be true and no matter how much ice I put in the bucket my bottle of wine refuses to get warmer.
Derek B says:
April 29, 2010 at 10:50 pm
“I’m mystified by most of the other comments…………….”
Son, think it through, Yes, the reflection and absorption principles are correct. So, in a remedial way, the assertion is proper. But, this has been known for some time now. Apparently, paradoxically, in spite of what is known, the ice is growing. …………………how can this be if the assertion is correct?
I’m not usually too picky about typos.
But are you sure it is Dr. Screen, Anthony?
Not Dr. Scream?
Thank God the ice cubes in my very light beer do the opposite.
The paper is pretty straight forward until the obligatory bowing to the AGW gods. Less ice allows arctic water to warm in summer. The connections to processes are conjecture, but that basic premise is reasonable. Of course not factoring in the expansion of ice since 2007 is problematic -Best to just ignore it then, right?
I unfortunately share a city with these people…
“Since then levels have recovered a little but the long-term trend is still one of decreasing ice” – interesting use of the word “little”.
I think it’s because of a growing aversion to [snip]
/dr.bill
JERoME, loved your conclusion.
But thinking further, we should now get engineers to think of a way to tap into this new perpetual energy source – well, until the ice runs out that is.