Arctic now ‘warmest in 3million years’ as sea ice HALVES in just 40 years, scientists warn
THE Arctic "hasn’t been this warm for three million years", according to scientists who have been studying CO2 emissions.
This claim comes after this year's annual low point of sea ice in the Arctic was the second lowest since satellite records began over 40 years ago.
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published an article in explaining how carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are "higher than at any other time in human history".
They are part of a team of scientists who studied ancient sediment cores from northeast Russia.
They found that levels of CO2 in the atmosphere haven't been this high since the Pliocene Epoch era which was three million years ago.
According to their research, rising greenhouse gas emissions could see us living with Pliocene conditions again including higher sea levels and changes to our weather.
"We cannot rule out, however, that some combination of the altered CO2 and altered ocean heat transport caused the warmer climate of the middle Pliocene."
Climate change explained
Here are the basic facts...
- Scientists have lots of evidence to show that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing due to human activity
- Climate change will result in problems like global warming, greater risk of flooding, droughts and regular heatwaves
- Each of the last three decades have been hotter than the previous one and 17 of the 18 warmest years on record have happened during the 21st century
- The Earth only needs to increase by a few degrees for it to spell disaster
- The oceans are already warming, polar ice and glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and we’re seeing more extreme weather events
- In 2015, almost all of the world's nations signed a deal called the Paris Agreement which set out ways in which they could tackle climate change and try to keep temperatures below 2C
In other news, melting ice in the Antarctic will raise sea levels by 2.5 metres even if the Paris agreement climate goals are met, according to a new study.
Airbus has revealed plans for the world's first zero-emission commercial aircraft.
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And, global warming is still hotting up as Covid makes it harder to monitor, a report warns.
What are your thoughts on Arctic warming? Let us know in the comments...
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