How Carbon Boosts Climate Change in the Arctic: Positive Feedback Loops
Many of us have heard stories in recent years of the many consequences of climate change, such as rising sea levels, rising global temperatures, and an increase in the frequency of natural disasters, but what many don’t know is that the Arctic is experiencing these effects twice as fast as the rest of the world.
What is Arctic amplification?
The map above from NASA Earth Observatory tracks the temperature trends from 2000 - 2009, showing an overall 2 degrees increase at the center of the Arctic region. This map also helps to visualize average global temperature increases during this period and gives a really good representation of how higher temperatures are concentrated over the Arctic and Russian regions. The figure helps show the effects of Arctic amplification, which creates a dangerous positive feedback loop that continues to accelerate melting ice and rising temperatures. When global temperatures rise, sea ice in the Arctic Ocean begins to melt revealing the dark ocean underneath. The ocean absorbs more radiation as opposed to the bright ice, which continues this warming pattern in the ocean resulting in more sea ice melt. Rising temperatures also have begun to thaw permafrost — ground that remains below 0 degrees celsius year-round that lies beneath much of the Arctic.
What is permafrost and why should we preserve it?
Permafrost is essential for maintaining global processes because it stores greenhouse gasses that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, exacerbating the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect describes the process of excess atmospheric gasses, such as methane and carbon dioxide, trapping heat that should be released into space close to the earth’s surface resulting in higher average temperatures. The greenhouse gas is not the only consequence of thawing permafrost, however, as many animals and plants rely on permafrost to support their habitats.
Many animals are experiencing displacement as the habitats that they historically rely on are disappearing or not supporting enough resources for them to survive. The existence of sea ice and permafrost are important for maintaining the Arctic system and all that it supports.
What can you do?
All of this can sound scary and overwhelming, especially if you are learning about these issues for the first time, but there are steps we can take to help save the Arctic and reduce our greenhouse gas impacts. The Arctic plays an integral role in maintaining global temperatures, weather patterns, and overall environmental health. Because of this people can make impactful change from wherever they live, knowing that acting locally can have global benefits. This starts with being aware of your individual or company’s carbon footprint.
Environmental consulting firms, such as RyeStrategy, can be helpful in this process because your company can rest easy knowing that we will make decisions not only to maintain your business but also help reduce your company’s impact on the environment.
Choosing carbon neutrality is one way to help slow processes like Arctic amplification because you are actively reducing the carbon that is released into the atmosphere, which is the first step in the positive feedback loop of warming temperatures. Knowing how to help can be difficult, but we make it easy by being transparent and holistic in our approach. If you are interested in learning more about RyeStrategy and how we could help your company reach your carbon neutrality goals, feel free to contact us at info@ryestrategy.com.
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About RyeStrategy
Based in Seattle, RyeStrategy is a CDP-accredited, mission-oriented company specialized in carbon accounting, mitigation coaching, and climate disclosure solutions for organizations at any point in their sustainability journey. Learn how RyeStrategy helped Salesforce, Ideascale, and Wazoku achieve their sustainability goals.
From exhaustive carbon footprinting and mitigation coaching, to setting science-based targets and reporting climate data to CDP, SBTi or custom reporting platforms, RyeStrategy acts as a hands-on extension of the team, custom-tailoring services to fulfill climate disclosure requirements easily and accurately.
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