Warming Of Arctic Ocean

Why in the News?

As per Finnish Meteorological Institute researchers, the Arctic is heating four times faster than the rest of the planet.

Key Points:

About Arctic Amplification

• Global warming, accelerated due to human activities since pre-industrial times and has increased the planet’s average temperature by 1.1 degrees Celsius. 
• While Changes are witnessed across the planet, any change in the surface air temperature and the net radiation balance tend to produce larger changes at the north and south poles. 
• These changes are more pronounced at the northern latitudes and are known as Arctic amplification. 

Causes:

• Ice-albedo feedback: Ice–albedo feedback climate process where a change in the area of ice caps, glaciers, and sea ice alters the albedo and surface temperature of a planet.
• Lapse rate feedback:  The rate of decrease of temperature with altitude.
• Water vapour feedback: Water vapor feedback amplifies the warming effect of greenhouse gases, such that the warming brought about by increased carbon dioxide allows more water vapor to enter the atmosphere.
• Ocean heat transport: The ocean transports vast amounts of heat around the planet, helping to regulate regional climate.

What are the consequences of Arctic warming? 

• The Greenland Ice sheet is melting at an alarming rate, and the rate of accumulation of sea ice has been remarkably low since 2000.
  • Importance of Greenlandic ice sheet: It holds the second largest amount of ice, after Antarctica, and therefore it is crucial for maintaining the sea level. 
• The Arctic amplification is causing widespread starvation and death among the Arctic fauna.
• The permafrost in the Arctic is thawing and in turn releasing carbon and methane which are among the major greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.

What is the impact on India? 

• In 2014, India deployed IndARC, to monitor the impact of the changes in the Arctic Ocean on tropical processes such as the monsoons. 
• In recent years, scientists have pondered over the impact the changing Arctic can have on the monsoons in the Indian subcontinent.

The changes in the atmospheric circulation due to diminishing sea ice combined with the warm temperatures in the Arabian Sea contribute to enhanced moisture and drive extreme rainfall events.