Recent dramatic changes in the Arctic will have a significant effect on our weather. That’s the conclusion of a top scientist studying Arctic sea ice.

Arctic sea ice is disappearing in summer much faster than scientists expected. That’s not just evidence of climate change; the ice itself is changing the climate, and it may be affecting weather.

Scientists predicted summer sea ice would shrink, but they underestimated the trend. Now in late summer, much of the Arctic Ocean is open water; summer ice covers about half what it did 30 years ago.

Professor Hajo Eicken is one of the leading experts. On a speaking visit to Utah, he said recent losses are especially dramatic.

“We had a big drop in 2007, and since we’ve seen that decline continue,” Eicken said.

Most of us know that’s bad news for polar bears, walrus and other Arctic residents. “Local people can tell you that they’ve seen big changes,” Eicken said. “They’ve had to change their way of life, in part — the way they travel and the way they hunt.”

Less publicized is that it could affect us all. The disappearing ice itself is accelerating global warming.

Read on: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=18105863

More about global warming: http://populationmatters.org/issues/environment/climate-change-2/