Arctic ice melting faster than projected

04-05-2007 12:58

BOULDER - Arctic sea ice is melting at a significantly faster rate than projected by even the most advanced computer models, a new study concludes.

The research, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), shows that the Arctic's ice cover is retreating more rapidly than estimated by any of the 18 computer models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in preparing its 2007 assessments.

The study "Arctic Sea Ice Decline: Faster Than Forecast?" appeared 1 May in the online edition of Geophysical Research Letters. It was led by Julienne Stroeve of the NSIDC and funded by the National Science Foundation, which is NCAR's principal sponsor, and by NASA.

"While the ice is disappearing faster than the computer models indicate, both observations and the models point in the same direction: the Arctic is losing ice at an increasingly rapid pace and the impact of greenhouse gases is growing", says NCAR scientist Marika Holland, one of the study's co-authors. (NCAR)