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Posted Tue Jun 28 2011: from
CBC:
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Rapid melting of Arctic sea ice possibly explained http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1309277947
Scientists have long puzzled over why Arctic sea ice is retreating at up to three times the rate that climate models say it should.
In an effort to answer that question, a group of U.K-based explorers walked more than 500 kilometres of sea ice in the High Arctic, taking temperature readings of the ocean below them.
They found a layer of cold, salty water about 200 metres down that they suspect has come from the melting of first-year ice.
That meltwater has forced the relatively warmer water to the surface, where it's speeding up the decay of more ice....
The report concluded that sea ice retreat is 30 years ahead of where scientists thought it would be....
Year-old ice, however, remains fairly salty. And when it melts, it produces meltwater that's denser than the relatively fresh water from older ice.
As multi-year ice declines throughout the Arctic, more of the saltier meltwater from younger ice is mixing into the ocean. That colder, denser water sinks more quickly and forces less dense water from deeper in the ocean up to the surface.
Because fresh meltwater is colder than seawater, that means relatively warm water is being forced upwards. And that, said Boxall, may be part of the reason that sea ice is melting so much faster than anyone thought it would.
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[Read more stories about:
arctic meltdown, ocean warming, faster than expected, feedback loop]
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I'm so glad to understand the physics of the freight train bearing down on me.
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