By Skye Milburn
The year 2024 was the second hottest year ever recorded for the Arctic, and its effect on our planet is starting to show. Recently, the Arctic’s Tundra has started emitting carbon dioxide and methane, instead of absorbing them. Sea ice is known to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but due to immense amounts of heat, the ice is starting to melt and is actually emitting more greenhouse gasses than it’s absorbing.
These emissions will only increase the amount of gasses getting into our atmosphere, increasing global warming. The findings were shared in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Arctic report card, showing how these climate changes are shaking up ecosystems and reshaping landscapes.
As the Arctic starts to lose more and more snow cover and sea ice, there is more dark ocean water and rocks that absorb heat. This heat absorption greatly impacts the temperature of our planet. The circulation patterns of our Earth’s ocean are transporting this heat to the poles, further increasing temperatures.
The lead editor of the new NOAA, Twila Moon, reported that the Arctic is a fundamentally different place than what it was just ten years ago. “The Arctic is in sort of a new regime, not a new normal, of course, but it is decidedly different than it was even just a couple decades ago,” she stated. The Arctic is starting to become a greener landscape with more precipitation and less snow and ice.
Global warming and carbon emissions are not the only negatives to the Arctic changing. Wildfires in the Arctic are becoming more frequent and are lasting much longer, further increasing the melting of ice and decreasing the quality of our air. In addition to the ice, the trees in the higher parts of the Arctic are also huge carbon sinks, and these wildfires and massive temperature increases are significantly decreasing the amount of carbon our planet is absorbing. Fires have always been a natural part of the Arctic’s ecosystem, but as it warms the nature of these fires also changes. These fire seasons become much more intense and frequent, leaving the Arctic council trying harder to monitor and control these fires.
Overall, the changes occurring in the Arctic over the past decade are turning the destination into a source of carbon emissions rather than the carbon sink it’s always been known to be. Both the intense wildfires and melting of sea ice and snow are causing these gasses to be released into our atmosphere. The heating of not only the Arctic but also our planet is progressively getting worse, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better any time soon. The WWF Arctic Program is trying to create a strong network of protected areas in the Arctic ocean that are equitably looked over and well-controlled. They say this is the most important thing we can do to reduce carbon emissions and climate change, hopefully helping to save our Arctic ecosystems.
beniciapaw.com 