Global Warming Thawing Arctic

There is more to the idea that man-made global warming, alone, is causing the Arctic to melt. It is more alarming to learn there is a natural cause too that may account for much of the recent Arctic melting. There is a cyclical increase in the amount of energy in the atmosphere that moves from south to north around the Arctic Circle. This energy transfer, which comes from storms that head north because of ocean currents, is not acting alone according to scientists who have been studying this. They think it is a combination of this energy transfer increase and man-made global warming that serves like a one-two punch that is pushing the Arctic over the edge. These scientists are trying to figure out why the Arctic is melting faster than computer models predicted. The summer of 2007, like the summer of 2005, smashed all records for loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and ice sheet in Greenland.

Vast Ice Island Trapped in Arctic

An island of ice the size of Manhattan has drifted into a remote channel and jammed itself in. The Ayles Ice Island changed the Arctic map by breaking free from the Canadian coast two years ago. Scientists have been tracking the progress of this monster iceberg and fears that it could edge west towards oil and gas installations off Alaska. The creation of the island is seen by many scientists as a key indicator of the rapid warming of the Arctic.