Module VIII: Arctic Sea-Ice, Climate and Culture

Photo Courtesy of http://georgecrossfader.com

How are Arctic sea-ice, climate and culture all connected?

Arctic sea-ice, climate and culture are all intertwined. Since we have discussed climate and culture quite a bit and that arctic sea-ice is a new topic I'll go over some behaviors and characteristics of it first.

Arctic sea-ice does a lot of things for the planet. It reflects a good portion of solar heat back into space and it provides a habitat from which polar bears and seals can use as a base camp for hunting. The ice can also help to cool the planet. As we've looked at before there are ocean currents that cycle warmer water to cooler areas and then back to be reheated. This thermohaline circulation keeps Earth's climate fairly moderate. Moderate in the sense that according to quest.nasa.gov the temperature on Mars can range from a high of 70 degrees Fahrenheit at the equator to -225 degrees Fahrenheit at the poles. This is a much larger extreme than Earth's range. It is good to have this circulation so that much of Earth is hospitable enough to support life. However, this cooling process creates other issues.

As the Arctic ocean absorbs the traveling warmth from currents it melts the sea-ice. As the sun helps to melt the ice it creates more open ocean which retains solar heat instead of reflecting it back into space. The ocean heats up more and melts more ice. This feedback cycle is fairly dangerous to the amount of sea-ice in the Arctic waters during the summer months. If not for the cooler winter months to replenish the amound of ice and frequent cloud cover the sea-ice would completely disappear in the summer months. However, scientists are predicting that sea-ice could completely disappear during the summer months by the next century. The image to the right (http://maps.grida.no) shows the amount of arctic sea ice measured during September in 1982 and 2007. The others are predictions for the rest of the century. This could have serious effects on the climate in the future. If the ice continues to disappear this creates more opportunity for the ocean to absorb solar heat. Since the ocean has the ability to hold onto the heat longer this in turn increases the temperature of Earth's climate.

As seen in the teachers domain resource "Global warming threatens Shishmaref" this would greatly reduce the ability for polar bears and seals to access fish that is further out from the coast. The indigenous peoples in the arctic have noticed this trend and that the climate and Earth are changing which can affect their way of life. This is why the Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change was organized. They want the rest of the world to acknowledge that there are things happening which can't be ignored. If the current trends continue it could make life for indigenous peoples look completely different then today. The resources that they looked to for subsistence could disappear making it harder to survive in areas that are already a challenge to live in. As Will Steger notes in a National Geographic story that many Inuits have noticed seeing animals that were never seen so far north because of changing temperatures. They also note that ice formations that have been used for generations as landmarks for traveling are shifting and changing. In an article for Orion Magazine they mention that in the winter of 2001-2002 the ice went out on March 18th when it normally would go out in July. Not having the ice on the coast makes the land erode much more quickly due to ocean waves. Eroding coast lines quickly encroach upon villages and put their homes in danger. Shishmaref is an example of this happening right now. Having temperatures so warm also makes it difficult to hunt whales because the meat spoils too quickly after pulling the whale out of the ocean.

So how are they all connected? Fairly simply if the Arctic sea-ice disappears for a longer stretch of time every year it will raise the temperature of the Earth, changing the climate. This change has drastic direct and immediate effects on those living near the shore. Absence of ice wears down the coast quickly by ocean waves which can destroy homes by erosion. It also changes the subsistence patterns that indigenous people have been following for as long as people know about their past generations. Whether or not we can shift these changes back the other way can only be done if more people work together on understanding the behaviors of the Earth and our influence on it.

Photo Courtesy of http://www.greenpeace.org/