Shrinking Arctic ice.When it comes to greenhouse warming, experts regard the Arctic and Antarctic as a planetary early warning system. These icy regions are thought to be particularly sensitive to changes in climate, and they may show clear signs of a warming before other parts of the globe do. Last week, scientists reported that the extent of Arctic sea ice diminished slightly between 1978 and 1987, although they say it is still too early to tell whether the ice changes bear the fingerprint of a greenhouse warming. Satellite measurements reveal about a 2 percent drop in the extent of the Arctic sea ice over the nine-year period, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Per Gloersen of the NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Md., and William J. Campbell Hon. William J. Campbell (March 19, 1905 – October 19, 1988) was the longest serving Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In 1970 the the Library of the United States Courts of the Seventh Circuit was named "The William J. of the University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (often called UPS or just Puget Sound) is a private liberal arts college located in the North End of Tacoma, Washington, in the United States. in Tacoma, Wash. Regions of open water within the ice pack also diminished by about 3.5 percent. By contrast, sea ice in the Antarctic did not change significantly in the same period, the researchers report in the July 4 NATURE. These observations bear at least a superficial resemblance to the results of some climate models, which suggest that rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would warm the Arctic before the Antarctic. But Gloersen says the nine-year satellite record is too short to distinguish long-term climate trends, and that scientists must continue to monitor sea ice over the next few decades. |
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