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Title: Arctic transformed at hands of climate change
Source:
ICSUSA.org
URL Source: http://icsusa.org/pages/icsusa-articles/october-2010.php
Published: Oct 3, 2010
Author: Ray Johnson
Post Date: 2010-10-03 11:23:07 by buckeroo
Keywords: None
Views: 89
Comments: 3
On 19 May 1845, Sir John Franklin set sail from the Thames River, England searching for the famed, long sought Northwest Passage: a northern sea route across the Canadian Arctic from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This passage had been a quest by explorers for centuries as a shorter route to the orient. There were 129 men in his two ships, the Erebus and the Terror. In addition to the necessary provisions for up to a three year voyage, the ships carried all of the silverware, china and crystal that the officers of the Royal Navy were accustomed to. They were last glimpsed by some whalers near Greenland on June 25, 1845, and then they disappeared. Captain Franklin was an experienced Arctic explorer. He was even called 'the man who ate his boots' by the Inuit, because of a mishap on one of his earlier explorations where he nearly starved to death, but his courage and experience was extensive. Historians today believe that at some point his ships became frozen in the ice, and not released by the summers thaw: the ships were eventually lost and have never been recovered. Over a 12 year period over 50 expeditions searched for him. Only the remains of a few of the officers and men have been found scattered around the Arctic that tell of horrible hardship. (The Arctic Grail, by Pierre Berton). The Arctic Today (click on picture to the right to enlarge) The Arctic of today is a very different place. On a visit to Beechey Island one can still see the barrel staves and opened tin cans from what is believed to be their first original campsite. A chill, but not cold wind blows, but no ice is in sight on this August day. No green is visible either, even if one gets down on all fours and looks across hundreds of feet of the stone shingle terrain. The recent satellite composite image here (8/24/2010) tells the story of the Arctic today. The Arctic, we recall, is an ocean surrounded by land. This is the exact opposite to the Antarctic where we have a continent surrounded by ocean. This image from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), and carried on "The University of Illinois Cryosphere Today" website, has the North Pole in the center as a dark circular dot. It is surrounded by varying shades of color which denotes ice thickness (see intensity stripe across bottom). The image, with Canada to the left, Alaska to the upper left and Russia from top to most of the way down on the right ending with the Scandinavian countries: Greenland is the large white mass on the bottom left. The legendary Northwest Passage across the Canadian Arctic is completely clear, as is the Northeast Passage along Russia's land boundary as can be seen. Ice Extent This summer marks the 4th year in a row — and the 4th time in recorded history — that the fabled Northwest Passage has opened for navigation. Indeed, 18 ships have travelled through this passage and cleared customs this year in Inuvik according to the Canada Border Services Agency. In 2009 the number was seven. It is also possible now to circumnavigate the Arctic through both passages in ice-free waters and this is the 3rd year in a row and the 3rd time in known history that this was possible. Indeed, a company, Beluga Shipping, was the first shipping company last year to transport goods in two ships from South Korea through the Northeast Passage to Siberia. The polar explorers of the past would be astonished at how the Arctic looks today. Normally, minimum sea ice in the Arctic occurs in mid-September before it starts to grow again during the long Arctic winter. According to the NSIDC minimum sea ice extent occurred about September 19 and was the third lowest in the data record, behind only 2007 and 2008. It was far less than the average extent from 1979 to 2000. Ice Volume (click on picture to the right to enlarge) So let's look at ice volume as depicted in the graph. The cube on the left has a faint outline of the volume of summer Arctic sea ice in 1979. The inner and smaller dark cube schematically illustrates the amount in 2009. Note that the ice volume during that time has changed from 20,770 cubic kilometers to 7,958 cubic kilometers, a decrease of about 55%. The right side of this chart graphs the "Changes in Sea Ice Volume" when the daily volume is compared with the 1979-2000 average for that day. This data is from an article in New Scientist 31 August 2010 by Chris Mooney. It should be noted that a PIOMASS model has been used for much of this work. It was developed at the University of Washington's Polar Science Center in Seattle. While the last several years data correlate well with ICESat satellite (which failed earlier this year) measurements, earlier years data are also consistent with earlier satellite, Navy submarine, moorings and field measurements data. Let's not forget some other recent news accounts taking place in the Arctic. On August 4th 2010 a large chunk of the Petermann Glacier on Greenland broke off, which at this time is the largest iceberg in the northern hemisphere. It is about 150 square miles in size or about four times the size of Manhattan. It is so large that it might get stuck in Nares Strait, a narrow passage way between Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island, and not move south into the north Atlantic and its shipping lanes until it breaks apart into smaller chunks. In 2008, another iceberg about 20 square miles in size broke off from this same glacier. In mid August this year a huge chunk of ice about the size of Bermuda cracked off Canada's largest glacier, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. It has clung to the shores of Ellesmere Island for the last 3,000-5,000 years and contains the oldest sea ice in the northern hemisphere. The science and data continue to be published. The permafrost area in the Arctic continues to decrease; methane releases from the tundra and its lakes appear to be increasing with attempts to measure this still underway; shoreline erosion continues to worsen as ice-in dates occur later in the fall; fish and other wildlife species are found further north than ever spotted before; pine bark beetles killing millions of trees in Alaska as the cold weather that kept them in check is no longer as cold. The number of observed changes associated with global warming continues to increase. The energy imbalance is still there and with more energy entering our planet than is leaving, more changes will occur. A lot more evidence of climate change is happening in the Arctic but more about that another time.
Poster Comment:
From a climate perspective what is important is not just extent, but sea ice volume, which gives a more complete idea of the warming occurring in the Arctic. Thin ice melts much more quickly than multi-year thick ice. In this modern, technological world where "better, faster and cheaper" is the modus operandi for most international businesses in the transference of goods and services, it appears The Northwest Passage is a godsend in the search for increased profit margins.
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#2. To: buckeroo (#0)
Oh buck, you are on a tear today aren't you?
#3. To: farmfriend (#2)
Everyone knows that from time to time there was the possibility for circumnavigation through the fabled "Northwest Passage" after-all, that is why explorations occurred through time of about 150 years. And from time-to-time, there were recessions within the Arctic to make the exploration navigable as proof that the exploration was a success. But this article doesn't discuss that point. It is now (after four consecutive years) commercially navigable such that the risk of loss of life, cargoe or expedition is a minimum for considerations. Canada is opening ports of entry BTW ... wherein it was impossible a few years ago. Check out this recent article: The struggle for Arctic riches Canada is staking its claim to Arctic waterways and mineral resources - as are Russia, the US, Norway and other regional powers. All are meeting in Moscow this week in an attempt to head off an international dispute. Just before midnight and in the cold of approaching winter, we boarded the Hudson Bay Explorer in the Arctic port of Churchill. Tethered to our 110ft tug by a heavy steel cable was an enormous barge, laden with vehicles, construction materials, even a metal shed. We were to tow this north towards the Arctic Ocean and to the isolated communities that live along the western shore of the Hudson Bay. It's a landscape of tundra, inaccessible by roads: ships like this are a lifeline for Canada's remote north. As we ploughed through the inky night in our small tug, I rolled around in a top bunk to the sound of engines churning. In the morning, I could see nothing in any direction - no land, no ships - just the slate grey of the sea. Seasonal ice Hudson Bay is enormous - more than three times bigger than the UK - and here we were, a tiny speck, 20 miles west of the coast, heading north. Our destination was barely 150 miles from our starting point, but at a speed of less than 7 knots and hauling thousands of tonnes through agitated seas, it was going to take us a long time. Map of Northwest Passage Still, in a few weeks this journey won't even be possible. This corner of Hudson Bay is the first to freeze; soon ice will choke or cover the sea all the way up to the North Pole. In the far north, ice is permanent. At lower latitudes it is seasonal. And as the earth warms up, polar ice is melting more quickly and over a greater area. In fact latest surveys recorded the amount of summer polar ice at the third lowest level on record. The result is that in the summer, stretches of sea that are normally blocked are now opening up to shipping. "Global warming is going to change the face of the north," Captain Richard Lambert told me on the bridge of the Hudson Bay Explorer. He has nearly 40 years experience in this business, and he predicts upheaval. "The tug and barge industry will be reduced because larger ships can come and they will bring more cargo in bulk," he said, "Ships are going to be able to leave Atlantic Canada and go to the Pacific coast through the north, which they could never do before. The Northwest Passage was open last year. A couple of tugs did get through." The Northwest Passage is the holy grail for shipping. For centuries sailors searched in vain for an Arctic shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It would slash weeks off journey times and millions off costs; this was commercially valuable and strategically important. Patrol boats In recent summers, the Northwest Passage has been ice-free. And consequently there's a contest for control. "We live in a time of renewed interest in Canada's Arctic," declared Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper last month. He was speaking during military exercises in the Arctic, staged as a show of strength. Canada is also buying new patrol boats for the area. "All these efforts are toward one non-negotiable priority," Mr Harper said, "and that is the protection and promotion of Canada's sovereignty over what is our North." It was a strong assertion of Canadian sovereignty over Arctic waterways including the Northwest Passage. But it's a disputed claim. Even though it lies between Canadian-controlled islands, Canada's Arctic neighbours America and Russia argue the Northwest Passage should be freely accessible to international shipping. Few believe the frogmen and helicopters Canada showed off in Resolute Bay last month will ever be pressed into service over this argument, but it is a key issue this week's summit must address. Also on the table for Canada - and others - are disagreements over borders. On the east coast, who controls a tiny lump of rock called Hans Island that lies between Canada and Greenland? In the west, does the land border with the US state of Alaska extend into Arctic seas? Or should a new one be drawn? Establishing territory allows countries to start exploring the vast oil and gas deposits under the Arctic seabed. It's estimated as much as a quarter of known reserves could lie in this daunting environment, but with high energy prices and rocketing demand from ravenous Chinese and Indian economies, Arctic nations are keen to get drilling and reap the benefits. It seems a world away from the cramped confines, the diesel aftertaste and the gut-churning pitch of the Hudson Bay Explorer. After 20 hours at sea finally the ship dropped anchor at our destination, the Inuit town of Arviat. There is no jetty, so at high tide the tug pushed the barge onto the dark brown beach, where low-tide left it grounded. Ramps were deployed and the vehicles and cargo rolled straight onto the shoreline. Dirt roads Arviat is the furthest south of a string of isolated communities - mainly Inuit towns - running up the Hudson Bay and along the Arctic Ocean shores. Supporting remote communities like this is another way Canada can show who is in charge up here, demonstrating to the world that the Arctic is a region populated, sustained and defended by Canadians. Government strategy includes the social and economic development of communities in the north. (The shipping company we travelled with, NTCL, is owned by First Nations or native communities and is the largest in northern Canada.) Arviat Temperatures in Arviat can drop to -40C in winter We met Tony Uluatluak, who was waiting with his wife and children for their new car to come off the barge. He is from the largest Inuit family in town - his parents have 192 grandchildren. "Do you feel part of Canada," I asked. "We are 100% Canadian," he told me, "proud to be Canadian." We walked into Arviat through a cold, damp mist. It's a place built for practicality where temperatures can drop to -40C in winter. The dirt roads were unpaved, lined with weathered wooden houses. Boats and skidoos lay alongside. Outside one house animal skins were hanging. Above another, a Canadian flag fluttered. Here, they hunt caribou and seals and are allowed a quota of whales. If polar bears come into town - as I was told they often do - they are fair game too. Here, traditional and modern ways of life coexist. There's a KFC branch and I saw people riding around on all-terrain vehicles, yet many women wore traditional long coats with large hoods in which they carried babies. As in many northern communities, alcohol is not allowed but everyone smokes. The Inuit language Inuktitut is more widely spoken than English, even though the Queen is on the banknotes. In written form it appears in elegant, almost geometrical shapes. Both languages were equally prominent on many signs around town. Canada supports strong native traditions - it's also a way of reinforcing its ownership of the north. But the people need the government as much as it needs them. There are few jobs, prices are high and many depend on benefits. At the large grocery store that is the town's focal point I met Chesley Aggark, his wife Shauna and their three children carrying two loads of shopping to their ATV. They told me one week's groceries cost them more than 500 Canadian dollars (£310.) I asked them how they could afford it. Shauna pointed down: "with the help of my children," she said, "child benefit… income support." "Could you survive if the government didn't help you," I asked. "No," she said. After delivering cargo to Arviat, our boat headed further north to another community, carrying the last precious supplies before winter's freeze. We hitched a ride on another tug back to Churchill and two days later our journey was over. But the gold rush in the Arctic is just beginning and I saw first hand how Canada is staking its claim. So, for some nations, global warming phenomena is a godsend.... as I said earlier.
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