{"id":494373,"date":"2010-03-30T15:14:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-30T19:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/green.yahoo.com\/blog\/daily_green_news\/316\/something-odd-for-the-arctic-normal-sea-ice-extent-as-winter-ends.html"},"modified":"2010-03-30T15:14:00","modified_gmt":"2010-03-30T19:14:00","slug":"something-odd-for-the-arctic-normal-sea-ice-extent-as-winter-ends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/494373","title":{"rendered":"Something odd for the Arctic: “Normal” sea ice extent as winter ends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"National<\/p>\n

Only two months ago, it looked as if the Arctic sea ice extent was trending so far below normal<\/a> that it might set a new record. The extent of Arctic sea ice, a barometer on global warming and one of the most easily visualized effects of climate change, was 1 million square miles short of average throughout February.<\/p>\n

But, lo and behold, so much new ice froze in March that the overall extent for this winter will end up nearly normal, as compared to the long-term average. That’s a headline no one could have written for years, as the extent of Arctic sea ice has dropped, rhythmically with the seasons, but dropped<\/em> precipitously and consistently for years. The record-setting extent of melting in the past three summers was to a degree not expected for decades, under mainstream scientific predictions of just a few years ago.<\/p>\n

As the ice melts, polar bear, Pacific walrus, ribbon seals<\/a> and other species struggle for survival, and the potential for human use grows — for oil and gas drilling<\/a>, and for shipping through once ice-locked channels<\/a>. The extreme melting in the Arctic has been seen as a harbinger for things to come elsewhere at other latitudes: Does it mean that the worst-case predictions for other aspects of global warming are inevitable? Wildfires, droughts, crop failure, sea-level rise, massive rates of species extinctions … will each appear more quickly, and have more severe impacts than the public expects?\"arctic<\/p>\n

The normal freeze this winter could be another blow for global warming activists, who have seen headline-grabbing news about everything from so-called climate-gate<\/a> and so-called glacier-gate<\/a> to so-called snowmagedden<\/a>, none of which is the Achille’s heel for climate science that global warming skeptics would like them to be. The last decade has been the warmest on record<\/a>, with no end to the warming anticipated if we don’t curb greenhouse gas pollution.<\/p>\n

Still, if the Arctic does indeed have one good year among many bad ones, it could further erode public opinion<\/a> of climate science at a time when the Senate is on the verge of debating sweeping energy and climate legislation. Given the long-term trend, it should not.\"arctic<\/p>\n

Charts: National Snow and Ice Data Center<\/em><\/p>\n

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