Dec 12, 2007 4:16 pm US/Eastern
NASA Images Shows Arctic Ice Melting At Fast Rate
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Oceans act as the world's heating and cooling system; Scientist Eddy Carmack says what happens in the Arctic can lead to extreme weather around the world.
CBS News
New satellite images from NASA reveal that Arctic sea ice is melting faster than originally thought, which is raising new concerns about the impact of global warming.
The Arctic glaciers are melting, and in fact, this year set a record for the amount of summer ice that was lost. Some scientists now believe that the arctic could be nearly free of summer ice by 2012. The previous estimate was 2040.
Although some of the change can be attributed to natural changes in the earth's weather patterns, more and more scientists are linking the rising temperatures to the greenhouse gasses caused by power plants and cars.
"We are standing on a river of ice that's streaming out of the arctic," said oceanographer Eddie Karmack. "When it reaches the North Atlantic it's going to melt. It will make the waters there fresher, lighter, and affect the whole ocean circulation."
The revelations about the glaciers have given a new urgency to a United Nations conference on global warming in Bali, Indonesia. The United States continues to face international pressure to cut green house gas emissions and show a greater willingness to negotiate.
The conference in Bali will continue through Thursday.
When told about the ice loss in the arctic, a scientist at the government's Snow and Ice Data Center said "the artic is screaming."
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