How Are the Nature of the Arctic and Antarctic Are Changing with Time? (credit: NASA)

Research into the behavior of the Arctic sea ice has led to a deeper understanding of how it survives from year to year. In this visualization, the age of the sea ice is shown with younger ice in darker shades of blue & the oldest ice in brighter white: https://t.co/UAK2FHkHOb pic.twitter.com/7Swo1DiYVJ

— NASA (@NASA) March 16, 2018

DISCUSSION: There is no question that as planet Earth continues to gradually warm, both the thickness and the extent of Arctic and aunt Arctic sea ice coverage will evolve as well, which has already been clearly documented by many scientists and scientific organizations alike. In that light, it is important to recognize that as Arctic and/or Antarctic sea ice melts and re-freezes on a season-to-season basis, there are also major fundamental changes which unfold as a direct result of these changes. What is the premier changes that unfolds is the fact that older sea ice tends to melt away and often gets replaced by newer and younger sea ice. This is an important change to the overall character of both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles alike since this indicates that the nature of the polar regions is changing in a rather dramatic way.
 
More specifically, as older sea ice melts and is later replaced by newer sea ice, this indicates a change in the age of the sea ice being present in either Arctic and/or Antarctic Circle.  Hence, this indicates that changes in the age and the overall spatial extent of the net annual sea ice coverage are gradually becoming increasingly more volatile with time. Attached below are a couple of exact excerpts from the original article courtesy of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration which provides even more details on this issue.
 
“This visualization begins by showing the dynamic beauty of the Arctic sea ice as it responds to winds and ocean currents. Research into the behavior of the Arctic sea ice for the last 30 years has led to a deeper understanding of how this ice survives from year to year.  In the animation that follows, age of the sea ice is visible, showing the younger ice in darker shades of blue and the oldest ice in brighter white. This visual representation of the ice age clearly shows how the quantity of older and thicker ice has changed between 1984 and 2016……Furthermore, the issue of the declining sea ice near the North Pole is set in its natural configuration. An analysis of the age of the Arctic sea ice indicates that it traditionally became older while circulating in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska and was then primarily lost in the warmer regions along the eastern coast of Greenland. In recent years, however, warmer water in the Beaufort Sea, possibly from the Bering Strait, often melts away the sea ice in the summer before it can get older.”
 
This reality just goes to show that the nature of both Arctic and Antarctic sea ice average thickness and spatial extent is most certainly changing at a more alarming rate and it is that much more important to continue to push and emphasize the value of advocating for more and more productive environmentally-friendly changes to our everyday lives as society continues to evolve with passing time.
 
To learn more about other interesting weather events, stories, and topics from across the Polar regions, be sure to click on the following link: https://www.globalweatherclimatecenter.com/polar-regions!  

© 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz