50 Years of Research Shows Important Devon Island Ice Loss
13.04.2010 - Water & Oceans, Ice & Snow, Arctic
A paper recently published in the journal Arctic reports that between 1961 and 1985, the ice cap on Devon Island in the Canadian High Arctic had been growing and shrinking in size annually before seeing a steadier decline in ice volume and area since 1985. The suspected reasons behind the changes are the warmer summers the Arctic has been experiencing.
The High Arctic, which is essentially a desert with low rates of precipitation, has a highly delicate climate balance that can be easily disturbed. Since there is very little snow accumulation in the winter, the snow and ice cover are only safeguarded by relatively cold summers. Recently, however, as summers have seen temperature increases, years of accumulated growth can be wiped out in one season.
Any change to the Devon Island Ice Cap (14,400 km²) could have various impacts on everything from ship traffic to sea level. As a result of the increased water flow underneath the ice cap, the region is already facing an increased amount of icebergs calving off from the outlet glaciers that flow into the ocean.
This study highlights the importance of long-term research. Thanks to the monitoring on Devon Island, scientists have been able to compile a comprehensive dataset which significantly contributes to the understanding of the complex interactions between the ice cap, the atmosphere and the ocean.
