NASA Earth Observatory ~ Melting Snow and Ice Warm Northern Hemisphere

Article and image source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=49440

How could melting ice thousands of miles away possibly affect you? A recent study published in Nature Geoscience provides one answer to that question. Mark Flanner at the University of Michigan and his collaborators used satellite data to measure how much changes in snow and ice in the Northern Hemisphere have contributed to rising temperatures in the last 30 years. The loss of snow and ice warmed the planet more than models predicted it would.

Snow and ice help control how much of the Sun’s energy Earth soaks up. Bright white snow and ice reflect energy back to space. Because that energy does not get absorbed, it does not go into Earth’s climate. As a result, snow and ice cool the planet. This effect is called a climate forcing because snow and ice directly influence the climate.

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Fabulous article

Perfectly encapsulating the complexities of how difficult it is to pinpoint what is really happening to our climate even when things are changing very quickly.  Also a very good review of the unbelieveable weather 2010 brought to the planet.  Props to IHT for posting such balanced reporting of this subject.

Excerpt from Tospy-Turvy Weather Tied to Weaker Arctic 'Fence'

"Since satellites began tracking it in 1979, the ice on the Arctic Ocean’s surface in the bellwether month of September has declined by more than 30 percent. It is the most striking change in the terrain of the planet in recent decades, and a major question is whether it is starting to have an effect on broad weather patterns."

Read the full article from International Herald Tribune's Justin Gillis "Topsy-Turvy Weather Tied to Weaker Arctic ‘Fence’"