The Arctic Will Have Ice-Free Summers as Soon as the 2030s
Scientists say the loss of the region’s summer sea ice is imminent and can’t be stopped even with deep emission cuts.
The Kvitbjorn (Polar Bear, in Norwegian) boat as it makes its way in the sea ice in the Borebukta Bay, located at the northwestern side of Isfjorden, in Svalbard Archipelago, northern Norway.
Photographer: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images
Even in a best-case scenario, the Arctic will begin to experience summer months with no sea ice sometime around the middle of the century — sooner than leading climate scientists had predicted, new research finds.
The United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested in its most recent landmark report that the region would start to see Septembers without sea ice around 2050 if humans continue to emit greenhouse gases at high or moderate levels. However, the new study, published Tuesday in Nature Communications, says this will happen even in a low-emissions scenario. Higher emissions will result in ice-free Septembers by 2030 to 2040.