Photo by Aliona & Pasha on Pexels
The North Pole has always felt far away, but soon it could have a global effect on climate and ecosystems if action is not taken to protect it.
The North Pole’s arctic sea ice is melting rapidly, with 40% of its summertime ice cover gone. Normally, the ice grows in the winter and melts in the summer, but now it’s melting more and more every summer and freezing less in the winter. This cycle will keep going until the Arctic, during summertime, is completely ice-free, and, unless carbon emissions feature both a sharp and large reduction, this could happen by mid-century, even by 2040.
The melting of the North Pole is due to climate change and increased temperatures, but its disappearance during the summertime could spell disaster for all ecosystems, since the ice in the Arctic reflects sunlight, but open water absorbs sunlight, so without ice, the Earth warms faster.
The main culprit: global warming, causing temperatures to skyrocket due to greenhouse gas emissions from transportation to waste management issues.
Typically, after the summertime melts the ice, there is a point where it stops melting each year in late September, and it is here where the smallest area of ice can be observed per that year. NASA has used satellites and sensors to measure the amount of ice there, and has found that the Arctic sea ice is shrinking at a rate of 12.2% per decade since around 1979. That means it would take less than a century to see the fall of the North Pole. Even the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by 95% over the span of just 30 years.
But what would happen if the North Pole were to melt? It would not be pretty.
There would be six main impacts; the first being temperature. As stated earlier, the Arctic ice reflects sunlight while water absorbs it, which speeds up warming and causes global heatwaves. But it can also cause more extreme winters due to the destabilization of polar jet streams, a high-pressure wind that circles the North Pole, with warmer temperatures forcing it to move southward and bring about bitter cold with it. The idea of just casually letting our planet deteriorate and crumble due to laziness and profit is sickening–people will die due to this.
The second impact would be the loss of coastal communities. Since 1900, global sea levels have risen about 7-8 inches and are increasing, and rising sea levels endanger both island nations and coastal cities. If the ice surrounding the Arctic region were to melt, sea levels would skyrocket, with the ice sheet around Greenland predicted to raise sea levels by 20 feet alone upon its melting. Again, this causes global issues that need solving. Humanity has been waiting around too much, and now consequences are being forced onto those who are innocent.
The third impact is food shortages. Polar vortices, a swirling mass of frigid air and low pressure that circles the poles, are weakened by warmer temperatures, which causes polar jet streams to dip south and disrupt crop growth, which, along with the increased heat waves previously mentioned, would make for a devastating combo on food production. This could lead to higher prices and worsen preexisting food shortages. Plants weren’t meant for this–they can’t adapt that fast and neither can humans, so essentially the entire human race suffers due to some politicians who keep saying climate change isn’t real.
The next impact is shipping, as the ice melting in the region would open up new shipping routes that, for corporate companies, would be a tempting time saver, but also a high risk that could lead to an increase in oil spills and ship wrecks in areas that clean-up crews can’t access. Companies are literally causing climate change for profit, endangering the biosphere for money, like they don’t know the consequences of their actions.
The fifth, and highly important, impact is on wildlife. Many animals depend on sea ice for survival, and if the ice melts, they would be forced to adapt or die. Imagine having your home destroyed, then being told you need to go find a solution for a problem you didn’t even cause, or, you know, perish. The loss of ice could cause issues for polar bears, walruses, arctic foxes, snowy owls, reindeer, penguins, and many other species. It could also spark conflict between native ecosystems and humans as wildlife from arctic communities are forced to relocate into different habitats due to the loss of their own. It’s possible that this could cause the extinction of some already vulnerable species, like seals and caribou, as well. Animals aren’t any less important than a human, everything is of equal value and, in today’s world, humanity is benefiting from the destruction of them.
Lastly, the final impact is the melting of permafrost, ground that is permanently frozen. Permafrost stores large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that plays a major role in climate change, so when permafrost melts, the methane is released into the atmosphere, temperatures increase, and even more permafrost thaws. It’s possible that, as we see permafrost and sea ice melt away, the worst of climate change may occur. This could spell literal doom for humankind, highlighting the urgency of this, the need for change. Permafrost has been frozen for centuries, and now it is unfreezing when it was never meant to be this early.
The laws of nature are being warped at a rate in which they were never meant to be, and that’s unacceptable. Humans aren’t the only species on the Earth, but they are becoming the most arrogant. We can’t keep pushing nature to its limits. We only have one Earth, one home, that we all share.
So what can be done to prevent this?
There are multiple solutions, but the main goal is to keep the rise of temperatures to 2.7°F (1.5 °C) to prevent the worst of climate change. It may be possible to refreeze the Arctic in an act known as polar geoengineering that could slow warming until the world starts using renewable energy and strays away from coal, oil, and natural gas. Scientists are working to do this by deploying technology to either reflect sunlight, enhance ice formation, and reduce melting by injecting things called aerosols into the stratosphere (particles that mimic volcanic eruptions and reflect sunlight), thicken ice by pumping water to refreeze, and even create sea curtains to block warm ocean water. However, there is much debate about how effective and useful these methods are in the long term.
The most critical step to be taken is to cut emissions from burning coal, oil, and gas, and shift to renewable energy like wind turbines and solar energy. This action can be seen with electric cars and wind turbines becoming more and more useful, and with major companies, like Microsoft and Amazon, pledging to reduce carbon emissions by 2030.
Protected areas are being established, with pushes for Canada, Greenland, Denmark,and other commissions to take actions to create more protected areas, which most governments have already lobbied for.
Individually, though, you can reduce your own carbon footprint by recycling more, wasting less, using less energy, and opting to buy eco-friendly goods when possible. You’ve probably heard all of that before, but it’s these little things that truly make a difference, as people notice, and action can eventually be forced into happening.
Overall, the loss of the North Pole is not far away; it’s right here, and it needs attention and solving. Otherwise, Santa might need to start taking a boat.
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