• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20 March 20, 2023
Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action March 20, 2023
Window for 1.5°C ‘Rapidly Closing’, IPCC Warns March 20, 2023
Swift Action, Inclusive Resilience Vital in Face of Overlapping Climate Hazards March 20, 2023
Shift from Fossils to Renewables is Quickest, Cheapest Path to Cut Emissions, IPCC Report Shows March 20, 2023
Next
Prev

‘Ticking Time Bomb’ Beneath Arctic Ocean Could Speed Up Northern Ice Loss

September 6, 2018
Reading time: 2 minutes

Patrick Kelley/NOAA

Patrick Kelley/NOAA

 

A pocket of warm salt water located 50 metres below the western Arctic Ocean could be a “ticking time bomb” set to cause significant ice loss if it is released, according to a new study in the journal Science Advances.

The existence of the layer itself, located beneath the Canada Basin north of Alaska and parts of the Yukon and Northwest Territories, is no news to scientists, CBC News reports. But “the study found that over the past 30 years, the amount of heat in the warm layer has doubled.” If it reaches the surface, it could melt some of the Arctic ice pack, according to the research team from Yale University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

  • Be among the first to read The Energy Mix Weekender
  • A brand new weekly digest containing exclusive and essential climate stories from around the world.
  • The Weekender:The climate news you need.
Subscribe

“Warm water typically floats, because it’s lighter than cold water,” CBC explains. “In the basin, the warm water doesn’t float because it’s insulated, and the saltiness makes it heavy enough to sink. The colder, fresher water sits above, near the sea ice.”

But now, “warm water is coming from the edges of the basin, places like the Northern Chukchi Sea, where every summer sea ice melts and retreats,” writes CBC Northern reporter Katie Toth. “That leaves a lot of open water exposed to the sun rays directly,” explained lead author Mary-Louise Timmermans.

“That heat isn’t going to go away,” added co-author John Toole. Eventually, “it’s going have to come up to the surface, and it’s going to impact the ice.”

Timmermans said there’s no immediate threat to the sea ice above. But if the warm layer becomes warm enough, the paper stated, the salt water could eventually stop sinking and begin mixing with the cold, fresh waters above.

“It’s really difficult to say the extent to which it’s happening now,” Timmermans told CBC. “That influence may increase going forward.”

The Independent reports that the trapped warm water could have the potential to eventually melt the entire Arctic ice pack, noting that the rate of warming across the region is twice the global average.



in Arctic & Antarctica, Canada, Heat & Temperature, Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise, Oceans, United States

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

TruckPR/flickr
Hydrogen

Opinion: Hydrogen Hype Sabotages Potential to Decarbonize

March 25, 2023
16
Prime Minister's Office/flickr
Energy Politics

Biden’s Ottawa Visit Highlights EVs, Clean Grid, Critical Minerals

March 25, 2023
42
IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter
International Agencies & Studies

Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 21, 2023
908

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Prime Minister's Office/flickr

Biden’s Ottawa Visit Highlights EVs, Clean Grid, Critical Minerals

March 25, 2023
42
IFRC Intl. Federation:Twitter

Devastating Impacts, Affordable Climate Solutions Drive IPCC’s Urgent Call for Action

March 21, 2023
908
Kenuoene/pixabay

Shift from Fossils to Renewables is Quickest, Cheapest Path to Cut Emissions, IPCC Report Shows

March 20, 2023
253
U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement/flickr

Willow Oil Project in Alaska Faces Legal Challenges, Economic Doubts

March 19, 2023
634
TruckPR/flickr

Opinion: Hydrogen Hype Sabotages Potential to Decarbonize

March 25, 2023
16
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board/flickr

$30.9B Price Tag Makes Trans Mountain Pipeline a ‘Catastrophic Boondoggle’

March 14, 2023
353

Recent Posts

EUMETSAT/wikimedia commons

Cyclone Freddy Leaves Over 500 Dead on Africa’s Southeast Coast

March 23, 2023
45
Kern River Valley Fire Info/Facebook

SPECIAL REPORT: ‘Defuse the Climate Time Bomb’ with Net-Zero by 2040, Guterres Urges G20

March 20, 2023
296
U.S. National Park Service/rawpixel

Window for 1.5°C ‘Rapidly Closing’, IPCC Warns

March 20, 2023
85
FMSC/Flickr

Swift Action, Inclusive Resilience Vital in Face of Overlapping Climate Hazards

March 20, 2023
77
Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine/Wikimedia Commons

IPCC Report Charts a Course for Ottawa’s ‘Clean Technology’ Budget

March 23, 2023
180
Kiara Worth, UNClimateChange/flickr

Gap Between IPCC’s Science, National Actions Sets Challenge for COP 28

March 21, 2023
91
Next Post
Dawn Ellner/flickr

IPCC Report on 1.5°C ‘Guardrail’ Draws Support from Some Climate Hawks, Alarm from Others

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}