Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumMelt Pond Modeling Assists Accuracy Of Ice Loss Estimates - Pond Melt Rates 3X Bare Ice
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In order to make improved projections, scientists are fine-tuning their understanding of the many influences on sea ice trends, including both manmade global warming and natural climate variability. The emerging science points to a complex interplay between manmade global warming, natural climate variability, and sea ice dynamics that scientists are only just beginning to truly understand.
For example, one new study shows that the melt ponds that form on top of sea ice floes in June and July can dramatically accelerate sea ice melt. These ponds, which form as snow and ice melt under the Arctic sun, can dramatically increase the amount of solar radiation the ice absorbs. This warms the surface and eventually allows more heat to ocean waters below, in effect melting sea ice from the top and bottom.
The study found that the melt rate beneath pond-covered ice is up to three times greater than that of bare ice.
In a crude sense, pond-covered ice is more akin to open water. So, because ponded ice reflects less of the solar radiation, there is more heat available to melt the surface of the ice, said Daniel Feltham, a researcher at the Center for Polar Observation and Modeling at the University College London, and co-author of the study, in an email.
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http://www.climatecentral.org/news/scientists-refine-their-understanding-in-wake-of-sea-ice-record-15068?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climatecentral%2FdjOO+Climate+Central+-+Full+Feed
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)Last edited Sun Oct 14, 2012, 07:01 PM - Edit history (1)
It may help explain why we've seen so much melting over the past 10 years, significantly ahead of schedule. Though of course, I can't help but think a large part of this has also been just some unfortunate rolls of the dice(nothing we could have done about that)......though, of course, that doesn't give any validity to 'Total Climate Chaos' like some may believe(Toba very well could have done in all life after its eruption 70k years ago if that was possible under any Earth conditions, given how much worse it was than AGW has been in many ways), but it does tell us that some of the details may still need to be worked out to a degree.
In any case, let's hope the IPCC projections are indeed more accurate come 2014(that is, no excess optimism, but no B.S. doomsday scenarios, either).