Date: September 14th 2006

Sept 13, 2006

Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1237/1726

Alan Buis Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif 818-354-0474

RELEASE: 06-315

NASA SEES RAPID CHANGES IN ARCTIC SEA ICE

NASA data shows that Arctic perennial sea ice, which normally survives the summer melt season and remains year-round, shrunk abruptly by 14 percent between 2004 and 2005 According to researchers, the loss of perennial ice in the East Arctic Ocean neared 50 percent during that time as some of the ice moved from the East Arctic to the West

The overall decrease in winter Arctic perennial sea ice totals 280,000 square miles--an area the size of Texas Perennial ice can be 10 or more feet thick It was replaced by new, seasonal ice only about one to seven feet thick that is more vulnerable to summer melt

The decrease in the perennial ice raises the possibility that Arctic sea ice will retreat to another record low extent this year This follows a series of very low ice-cover years observed over the past four summers from active and passive microwave satellite data

A team led by Son Nghiem of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif , used NASA's QuikScat satellite to measure the extent and distribution of perennial and seasonal sea ice in the Arctic While the total area of all the Arctic sea ice was stable in winter, the distribution of seasonal and perennial sea ice changed significantly

"Recent changes in Arctic sea ice are rapid and dramatic," said Nghiem "If the seasonal ice in the East Arctic Ocean were to be removed by summer melt, a vast ice-free area would open up Such an ice-free area would have profound impacts on the environment, as well as on marine transportation and commerce "

The researchers are examining what caused the rapid decrease in the perennial sea ice Data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Boulder, Colo , suggest that winds pushed perennial ice from the East to the West Arctic Ocean (primarily located above North America) and significantly moved ice out of the Fram Strait, an area located between Greenland and Spitsbergen, Norway This movement of ice out of the Arctic is a different mechanism for ice shrinkage than the melting of Arctic sea ice, but it produces the same results - a reduction in the amount of perennial Arctic sea ice

Researchers indicate that if the sea ice cover continues to decline, the surrounding ocean will get warmer, further accelerating summer ice melts and impeding fall freeze-ups This longer melt season will, in turn, further diminish the Arctic ice cover

Nghiem cautioned the recent Arctic changes are not well understood and many questions remain "It's vital that we continue to closely monitor this region, using both satellite and surface-based data," he said

This is one of three study results being released today by NASA The findings are the result of a new study by NASA; the U S Army Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, N H ; and the National Ice Center, Washington, D C Study results are published in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters

For more information about QuikScat, visit:

http://winds jpl nasa gov/missions/quikscat/index cfm

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: BULK_EMAIL

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/[list]/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/list/[list]

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at: