Winter Ice Loss in the Beaufort Sea
In late December and early January, enormous cracks appeared in the permanent polar pack ice near Canada's Banks Island in the Beaufort Sea, leaving expanses of open water so wide that ice couldn't be seen on either side.
The breakup of the giant slabs of thick, multi-year ice clearly rattled climate experts, who did not expect a meltoff in the winter months for several more decades.
Dr. Andrew Derocher, chair of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group and a scientific advisor to PBI, says this could mean the beginning of big changes for both the Southern and the Northern Beaufort Sea subpopulations of polar bears, which typically range across the frozen sea in northern Canada and Alaska.
"The multiyear ice west of Banks Island is a summer refuge for many of these polar bears," he says. "They head north towards this ice after the annual ice melts in summer. But will happen to the bears when the refuge isn't there?"
Last summer, scientists recorded a decline of almost 50 percent in the normal summer ice coverage in the Arctic. The winter breakup could signify even larger summer losses to come. Some predict that if the trend continues, the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer far sooner than the earlier estimate of 2040, with some estimating that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer within a decade.
Derocher says that the Beaufort Sea cracks look like a continuation of the ice loss recorded last summer and fall. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the September 2007 minimum sea ice extent was lower by 2.61 million kilometers (one million square miles) compared to the long-term average minimum. The loss represents an area roughly equal to the size of Alaska and Texas combined or 10 times the size of the United Kingdom.
The scientists who serve on our Advisory Council say that the accelerted breakup makes PBI's Tri-P initiative—or Polar Population Project—even more important than ever before. The Tri-P will provide them with census data on the world's 19 subpopulations of polar bears and help them understand the bear's movement patterns in a rapidly changing Arctic.
“The goal is to identify the geographic pockets where the bears can survive and to work to protect those areas," says Robert Buchanan, PBI's president. "At the same, we need to rally the public behind us so we can all work together to effect change.”
For maps and additional coverage on the sea ice loss, visit the National Snow and Ice Date Center Web site at //nsidc.org/news/press/2007seaiceminimum/20070810index.html.
The breakup of the giant slabs of thick, multi-year ice clearly rattled climate experts, who did not expect a meltoff in the winter months for several more decades.
Dr. Andrew Derocher, chair of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Specialist Group and a scientific advisor to PBI, says this could mean the beginning of big changes for both the Southern and the Northern Beaufort Sea subpopulations of polar bears, which typically range across the frozen sea in northern Canada and Alaska.
"The multiyear ice west of Banks Island is a summer refuge for many of these polar bears," he says. "They head north towards this ice after the annual ice melts in summer. But will happen to the bears when the refuge isn't there?"
Last summer, scientists recorded a decline of almost 50 percent in the normal summer ice coverage in the Arctic. The winter breakup could signify even larger summer losses to come. Some predict that if the trend continues, the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer far sooner than the earlier estimate of 2040, with some estimating that the Arctic could be ice-free in summer within a decade.
Derocher says that the Beaufort Sea cracks look like a continuation of the ice loss recorded last summer and fall. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the September 2007 minimum sea ice extent was lower by 2.61 million kilometers (one million square miles) compared to the long-term average minimum. The loss represents an area roughly equal to the size of Alaska and Texas combined or 10 times the size of the United Kingdom.
The scientists who serve on our Advisory Council say that the accelerted breakup makes PBI's Tri-P initiative—or Polar Population Project—even more important than ever before. The Tri-P will provide them with census data on the world's 19 subpopulations of polar bears and help them understand the bear's movement patterns in a rapidly changing Arctic.
“The goal is to identify the geographic pockets where the bears can survive and to work to protect those areas," says Robert Buchanan, PBI's president. "At the same, we need to rally the public behind us so we can all work together to effect change.”
For maps and additional coverage on the sea ice loss, visit the National Snow and Ice Date Center Web site at //nsidc.org/news/press/2007seaiceminimum/20070810index.html.
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