The strongest cyclone on record was experienced in the early part of the 20th century. The loss of sea ice was surprising to the researchers.
Sea ice in the northern part of the planet reaches its largest coverage in March and its thickest maximum in April, according to researchers. The sea ice this year hit a big blow. The storm traveled northeast into the Barents Sea, where huge waves reached 26 feet. Waves bucked sea ice at the edge of an icy pack 6 feet (2 m) up and down, while larger waves swept 60 miles (100 km) towards the center of the pack. Sea ice models did not know how much the storm would affect ice thickness.
After the storm passed, the sea ice in the area north of Norway and Russia had shrunk by 1.5 feet. The storm was analyzed in a study by researchers.
Satellites show the sea ice is melting more quickly than thought.
The area of ice lost was 30% greater than the previous record, and the loss of sea ice in six days was the biggest change since 1979. The ice models predicted some loss, but not much else.
The study found that the atmospheric heat from the storm didn't affect the area very much.
There are a few reasons why the sea ice is so thin. The models might have underestimated the sea ice thickness. The storm may have broken up the sea ice more than expected. It could be that the waves melted the sea ice pack from the bottom.
It is difficult to study and model sea ice thickness. Sea ice thickness is affected by interactions between the ice, ocean and Earth's atmosphere. Some of the interactions are small enough to model. It's not easy to model the effect of pools of melted water on sea ice thickness. Satellites can be thrown off if melt pools measure the ocean instead of the sea ice.
As the climate warms, it is more important than ever to understand the effects of storms on sea ice. A team of NASA scientists found in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications that sea ice loss and warmer temperatures will lead to stronger storms by the end of the century. The more intense storms could cause a lot of problems, such as melting sea ice and causing warmer temperatures.
" Going into the future, this is something to keep in mind, that these extreme events may cause these episodes of huge sea ice loss," she said.
The original article was published on Live Science.
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