User:Greencaffoy/sandbox

(This is a stub, of course in the Sandbox... not really ready yet)

The decline of Arctic sea ice is a significant indicator of climate change. Satellite measurements have shown reductions in both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice. At least half of this observed decline can be directly linked to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting increase in global mean surface air temperature. The ice thermal parameters, including thermal conductivity, are key to simulating ice phenology, distribution, and thickness. However, obtaining accurate ice thermal property parameters is complex due to numerous impact factors. The thermal conductivity of ice has been explored in the field and laboratory, and recent studies have introduced mathematics to carry out inversion identification and analysis with the time-series data of the vertical temperature profiles of ice layers. The ice mass, thickness, and coverage are also crucial factors. Earth lost 28 trillion tonnes of ice between 1994 and 2017, with Arctic sea ice accounting for 7.6 trillion tonnes of this loss. The rate of ice loss has risen by 57% since the 1990s. These changes in the Arctic sea ice have profound implications for global climate patterns.

The exact mass of Arctic sea ice in tonnes is not readily available. However, we do know that the Arctic sea ice extent for October 2023 was 6.37 million square kilometers.

To give a comparison with other large masses of ice on Earth, Antarctica is losing ice mass at an average rate of about 150 billion tons per year, and Greenland is losing about 270 billion tons per year. These ice sheets store about two-thirds of all the fresh water on Earth.

Estimates and the actual values can vary. The mass of ice also depends on its thickness, which can vary significantly across the Arctic. Monitoring the state of Arctic sea ice and other ice masses is crucial for understanding the impacts of climate change.

An aspect that is truly relevant and a consequence of sea-ice decline, not only in the Arctic, but at the global level are temperature changes.

Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average over the past three decades. Since 1991, the European region has on average seen temperatures rise 0.5 degrees Celsius each decade. The mean annual temperature over European land areas in the last decade was 2.04 to 2.10°C warmer than during the pre-industrial period.

The average surface temperature across the contiguous 48 states of the US has risen at an average rate of 0.17°F per decade since 1901. Average temperatures have risen more quickly since the late 1970s, with an increase of 0.32 to 0.55°F per decade since 1979.

Australia has warmed by around 1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910. Most warming has occurred since 1950, and every decade since 1950 has been warmer than preceding decades.

Much of Africa has already warmed by more than 1 °C since 1901, with an increase in heatwaves and hot days. Extensive areas of Africa will exceed 2 °C of warming above pre-industrial levels by the last two decades of this century under medium scenarios.

One important aspect in understanding sea ice decline is the Arctic dipole anomaly [Wikipedia link, CTRL-K]. This phenomenon appears to have slowed down the overall loss of sea ice between 2007 and 2021, but such a trend is not expected to continue.

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