ARCTIC AMPLIFICATION

Recently, some studies were published on Arctic Amplification, which suggested that the region is fast changing and that the best of climate models may not be able to capture the rate of changes and predict it accurately.

• The Arctic is heating four times faster than the rest of the planet.

• The Arctic was warming twice the global rate prior to the beginning of the 21st century.

• The warming is more concentrated in the Eurasian part of the Arctic, where the Barents Sea north of Russia and Norway is warming at an alarming rate — seven times faster than the global average.

• The report also said that the average annual temperature in the region increased by 3.1 degree Celsius compared to 1 degree Celsius for the planet.

What does arctic amplification mean?

• Polar amplification happens when changes to the earth’s atmosphere led to a larger difference in temperature near the north and south poles than to the rest of the world. This changes measured against the average temperature of the planet.

• it occurs when the atmosphere’s net radiation balance is affected by an increase in greenhouse gases.

what are the causes of arctic amplifications:

• The lapse rate or the rate at which the temperature drops with elevation decreases with warming.

• Sea ice and snow have high albedo (measure of reflectivity of the surface), implying that they are capable of reflecting most of the solar radiation as opposed to water and land.

  • As the sea ice melts, the Arctic Ocean will be more capable of absorbing solar radiation, thereby driving the amplification.

Consequences :

1. Thinning of Greenland ice sheet .

2. Rise in sea level.

3. Impact on biodiversity.