The Arctic seems to be literally disappearing, as it has been confirmed that the Arctic ice cover for the month of September has reached its minimum for the year, the third lowest recorded since 1979. Year after year, the amount of ice that returns to the Arctic becomes less and less, and the ice that does return in very thin and exposed. Scientists are afraid that the Arctic may change forever. During the summer months, ships can now pass through areas that were impossible to pass through a few years ago. The ice cover was significantly low for this year of 2009 because of the pollution and greenhouse gases dumped into the atmosphere by humans. NSIDC Research Scientist Walt Meier quotes “Atmospheric circulation patterns helped the Arctic sea ice spread out in August to prevent another record-setting minimum.” This year the ice cover did rank as the third lowest recorded since satellites began measuring ice extents in 1979. The minimum ice cover for 2009 is 620,000 square miles, which is nearly the size of the area of Alaska. The ice cover for the Arctic still continues to decrease and with this trend, the Artic may someday have ice free summers.
It is my opinion that this article was descriptive and informative. This article gave me a large amount of information on one of the worst environmental issues today. It really showed me that if we do not act soon to stop global warming, it is very possible that the polar ice caps could disappear forever.
http://www.livescience.com/environment/090917-artic-ice.html
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