16-foot swells reported in once frozen region of Arctic Ocean
2 Aug 2014 4:02 AM IST
US researchers have measured swells of more than 16 feet in once frozen region of Arctic Ocean that have the potential to break up ice even faster, threatening an ‘ice-free summer’ that could have potentially wide-ranging implications.
Researchers measured the massive swells in the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea, just north of Alaska, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Swells of that size, researchers say, have the potential to break up Arctic ice even faster than than the melt underway there for decades thanks to rapid global warming. The wave measurements, using sensors beneath the surface communicating via satellite, were recorded by Jim Thomson of the University of Washington and W. Erick Rogers of the Naval Research Laboratory in 2012 and reported in an article in Geophysical Research Letters this year.
‘The observations reported here are the only known wave measurements in the central Beaufort Sea,’ they wrote, ‘because until recently the region remained ice covered throughout the summer and there were no waves to measure.’
Sixteen feet was the average during a peak period, Mr Thomson said. ‘The largest single wave was probably’ 9 meters, or about 29 feet, he said. The average over the entire 2012 season was 3 to 6 feet.
Researchers measured the massive swells in the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea, just north of Alaska, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Swells of that size, researchers say, have the potential to break up Arctic ice even faster than than the melt underway there for decades thanks to rapid global warming. The wave measurements, using sensors beneath the surface communicating via satellite, were recorded by Jim Thomson of the University of Washington and W. Erick Rogers of the Naval Research Laboratory in 2012 and reported in an article in Geophysical Research Letters this year.
‘The observations reported here are the only known wave measurements in the central Beaufort Sea,’ they wrote, ‘because until recently the region remained ice covered throughout the summer and there were no waves to measure.’
Sixteen feet was the average during a peak period, Mr Thomson said. ‘The largest single wave was probably’ 9 meters, or about 29 feet, he said. The average over the entire 2012 season was 3 to 6 feet.
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