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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 34, L24501, doi:10.1029/2007GL032043, 2007

A younger, thinner Arctic ice cover: Increased potential for rapid, extensive sea-ice loss

J. A. Maslanik

Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA


C. Fowler

Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA


J. Stroeve

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA


S. Drobot

Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA


J. Zwally

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA


D. Yi

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA


W. Emery

Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA


Abstract

Satellite-derived estimates of sea-ice age and thickness are combined to produce a proxy ice thickness record for 1982 to the present. These data show that in addition to the well-documented loss of perennial ice cover as a whole, the amount of oldest and thickest ice within the remaining multiyear ice pack has declined significantly. The oldest ice types have essentially disappeared, and 58% of the multiyear ice now consists of relatively young 2- and 3-year-old ice compared to 35% in the mid-1980s. Ice coverage in summer 2007 reached a record minimum, with ice extent declining by 42% compared to conditions in the 1980s. The much-reduced extent of the oldest and thickest ice, in combination with other factors such as ice transport that assist the ice-albedo feedback by exposing more open water, help explain this large and abrupt ice loss.

Received 14 September 2007; accepted 8 November 2007; published 22 December 2007.

Keywords: ice, arctic, change.

Index Terms: 0750 Cryosphere: Sea ice (4540); 1621 Global Change: Cryospheric change (0776); 1605 Global Change: Abrupt/rapid climate change (4901, 8408); 1637 Global Change: Regional climate change; 1635 Global Change: Oceans (1616, 3305, 4215, 4513).

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Citation: Maslanik, J. A., C. Fowler, J. Stroeve, S. Drobot, J. Zwally, D. Yi, and W. Emery (2007), A younger, thinner Arctic ice cover: Increased potential for rapid, extensive sea-ice loss, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L24501, doi:10.1029/2007GL032043.