You may recall the recent post by TakePart’s Ciara O’Rourke who wrote about evidence that the Arctic could lose its summer ice cap in as little as ten years.

Well, the Arctic continues to make headlines. Last Thursday, the U.S. issued its Arctic Report Card. The report says that global warming is melting glaciers and sea ice at much more drastic rates than just five years ago, and at rates faster than predicted.

Aside from the conspicuous effects on wildlife habitat, such as that of polar bears, walruses, caribou and reindeer, changes in Arctic ice have consequences for the rest of the world.

The Arctic is a key regulator in the amount of heat stored in the world’s oceans, as well as its ice. Richard Spinrad, head of research for NOAA, told MSNBC.com that, “the loss of sea ice is messing with the thermostat for the globe.”

I’m not a scientist, but this phenomenon reminds me of ping-pong. Warming of the planet is diminishing glaciers and sea ice, which in turn further warms the planet. The “ball” here is temperature, only it gets bigger with every volley, until the paddles can no longer manage to hit it.

Once Arctic ice melts, it is very difficult to get it back. If that were not enough cause for concern, according to the report, higher temperatures are also changing the earth’s air patterns.

Below are key findings from the report:
(From MSNBC.com)

· Air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean reached an unprecedented 7 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in October-December of 2008.

· There is evidence that the higher air temperatures are causing changes in the air circulation in both the Arctic and northern mid-latitudes.

· The area covered by sea ice this summer was 25 percent below the average from 1979 to 2000 and was the third lowest since satellite records were begun in 1979.

· The melting ice resulted in an unprecedented amount of fresh water in the surface layer of the Arctic Ocean.

· “Record-setting summer temperatures around Greenland” led to further melt of the ice sheet.

· The amount of land covered by snow in the winters of 2007-08 and 2008-09 continued the trend toward shorter snow seasons due to earlier spring melt, although there is considerable annual and regional variability.

The Arctic Report Card has been issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency, annually since 2006.

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