Etc.: Arctic melt forecast, ocean ‘deserts,’ and ozone hole’s impact on climate change

(Image if the Arctic summer ice melt from Flickr and Image Editor.)

Arctic ice will shrink to a record level this year because it is thinner and younger than ever, according to a climate researcher at the University of Colorado. Last year saw a record melt as well. Over the past 10 years ice in the Arctic has shrunk about 10% as temperatures warmed. Arctic ice acts as an air conditioner for the rest of the world as air currents pass over it. See Reuters.

As the ozone hole over the Antarctic closes, ice there may begin to melt faster, scientists warn. For the past 3 decades the North and South poles have been polar opposites, as ice melted in the Arctic and increased in most of the Antarctic. But as ozone-harmful gases have been curtailed and the hole begins to close, we now face the likelihood of melting at the South Pole too, according to a study published in Eos. The hole has strengthened westerly winds, which cut the Antartic off from areas to the north that were warming. Only the northernmost peninsula has been warming. (ClimateWire)

Oxygen-deprived ocean “deserts” are spreading as waters warm and circulation patterns change, according to a study published last week in Science. The increase is consistent with what climate models forecast as a result of increased greenhouse gases. As water warms it holds less oxygen and these deserts in the tropical Atlantic and Pacific are unable to support most marine life. The deserts are different from the “dead zones” in rivers, mainly caused by fertilizer run-off. See latimes.com