COP 21 Dr. Dirk Notz – Arctic Sea Ice

The University of Earth: Urgent Action Series: COP 21 Paris 2015:

Dr Dirk Notz tells us how the Arctic sea ice from 1979, to 2012 has shrunk by 50%. The thickness has also shrunk by 50%. If you half the thickness and area, it means that we have lost about 3 quarters of the Arctic summer sea ice. This raises the question as to when the summer Arctic ice will be gone and is it possible to stop this landscape from vanishing.

Also, the amount of sea ice remaining in the Arctic is directly proportionate to the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the air, and at the current emission rates, Arctic summer sea ice is likely to be gone by midcentury. Current INDCs (see below) are not sufficient to allow summer sea ice to survive

The following question is raised after his presentation: “The carbon that is released from permafrost, is it in the form of methane or carbon dioxide or both?”

One of the scientists on the panel tells us that both are being released, and the biggest challenge is knowing how much will be released as methane and how much will be released as carbon dioxide.

INDCs:  Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) is a term used under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that all countries that signed the UNFCCC were asked to publish in the lead-up to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris, France, in December 2015.