{"id":271,"date":"2021-05-18T10:05:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T14:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/?page_id=271"},"modified":"2021-05-21T13:14:15","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T17:14:15","slug":"climate-change-in-the-arctic","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/climate-change-in-the-arctic\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change in the Arctic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;color: #000000\">The Arctic is warming twice as fast than any other region on Earth. For example, average temperatures in Alaska and Canada have increased by 3-4\u00b0C over the past half century. These rises in temperatures have significant impacts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_283\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-283\" style=\"width: 1240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-283 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/Arctic-Temps.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1240\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/Arctic-Temps.jpeg 1240w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/Arctic-Temps-300x129.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/Arctic-Temps-1024x441.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/Arctic-Temps-768x331.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-283\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arctic Temperatures (Red) Compared with Global Temperatures (Gray). Notice how since roughly 2000, Arctic temperatures are increasing significantly faster than the global temperatures (<a href=\"https:\/\/research.noaa.gov\/article\/ArtMID\/587\/ArticleID\/2351\/Study-In-2016%E2%80%99s-record-Arctic-warmth-a-glimpse-of-the-future\">Image Source<\/a>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;color: #000000\">One of the primary effects of rising temperatures is melting sea ice. Since 1978, satellites have recorded the extent of Arctic sea ice. Over the past 14 years, satellites recorded the 14 lowest totals of annual sea ice. Not only does the ice cover less area, but warming waters means it is much thinner than before.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2019 Minimum Extent\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2XKYdSqf2ss?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;color: #000000\">Arctic sea ice is an important piece of Earth\u2019s ability to self-regulate its internal temperature. Sea ice has a high albedo, meaning it is able to reflect sunlight back into space. As sea ice melts, sunlight is instead absorbed, which will increase the temperature in Earth\u2019s atmosphere, and cause more sea ice to melt. Herein lies one of the most well-known climate feedback loops.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_285\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-285\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-285 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/ALbedo-300x186.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" data-wp-editing=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/ALbedo-300x186.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/ALbedo-1024x635.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/ALbedo-768x476.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/ALbedo.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-285\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Albedo Effect Sea Ice <a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.ucla.edu\/file?fid=5dcda21c2cfac209fe9bd286\">(Image Source)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;color: #000000\">Melting sea ice can also seriously disrupt the livelihood of land and marine animals, including fish, seabirds, seals, whales, and polar bears. These animals will often lose a significant amount of their habitat or will have their migratory patterns altered. Both threaten their very existence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;color: #000000\">Another important piece of climate change in the Arctic is permafrost thaw. Much of the land in the Arctic is permafrost, which is ground that is permanently frozen.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_286\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-286\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-286 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/Permafrost-300x234.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/Permafrost-300x234.png 300w, https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/529\/2021\/05\/Permafrost.png 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-286\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Permafrost Feedback Loop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ed.ac.uk\/sustainability\/what-we-do\/climate-change\/case-studies\/climate-research\/can-plants-prevent-permafrost-thaw\">(Image Source)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;color: #000000\">As temperatures warm, however, this permanently frozen ground will thaw. One of the biggest impacts of permafrost thaw is that it releases greenhouse gases that have been frozen in the ground for long periods of time. As you can imagine, the release of more greenhouse gases will continue to warm temperatures. Just like sea ice, permafrost represents another feedback loop.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;color: #000000\">Clearly, climate change has a large impact on the Arctic environment. Yet, it has an even bigger impact on those who live there. We now invite you to explore these broad impacts, as well as more specific ones, to learn more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Arctic is warming twice as fast than any other region on Earth. For example, average temperatures in Alaska and Canada have increased by 3-4\u00b0C over the past half century. These rises in temperatures have significant impacts.\u00a0 One of the primary effects of rising temperatures is melting sea ice. Since 1978, satellites have recorded the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/climate-change-in-the-arctic\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Climate Change in the Arctic&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1397,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-271","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/gov-2577-spring-2021-security-of-arctic-communities-food-infrastructure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}