Like a trio of canaries in a coal mine warbling at the top of their lungs, three recent studies warn of various ways that global warming is drastically changing the planet. Each study involves the cryosphere, or those regions on the planet where water freezes into ice or snow. Both the Arctic and the Antarctic are melting — and scientists are recording the consequences.
First is a study by researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. After creating models based on past data chronicling sea ice area shrinkage in the Arctic Ocean, the scientists determined that we will soon enter an unprecedented future... one where during the summer there is no sea ice at all. Notably, this will happen regardless of whether humanity meets the emissions targets set during the Paris climate accord.
