Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
04/25/2012
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
Scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA, its acronym in English) presented on Tuesday (24) the first topographic map that reflects the variation of the thickness of Arctic ice over the years because of extreme importance to know the speed of global warming.
The map displayed in the British Royal Society scientific institution, was created from images taken by satellite CryoSat-2 and shows a dynamic and detailed the thickness of ice in the Arctic Ocean and Greenland.
"Two years ago, the decline in Arctic ice extent hits record highs. The trend is very clear: they are melting, and much faster than anticipated, "said Volker Liebig today, Program Director for Earth Observation of ESA.
"It is possible that before the middle of this century the Arctic is ice-free during the summer, so it is navigable," he predicted Liebig, which also highlighted the strategic importance of the region, home to between 15% and 20% of the world oil and gas.
The rapid melting as a result of rising temperatures in the Arctic over the past fifty years, in turn accelerate global warming, warned Liebig.
The CryoSat-2 satellite was launched into space in April 2010, in what could be considered the first European space mission dedicated to monitoring the ice in the Arctic, which will be done during a period of three years, which can be extended.
When the scientists have planned its release, the goal was to establish whether variations in ice thickness in the region were caused by climate change or just a result of the seasons, told Efe Duncan Wingham, an investigator with the Natural Environmental Research Council.
"CryoSat will provide us with detailed measurements to understand the speed of the melt and allow us to better understand how this process affects the ocean circulation in the Arctic," said Wingham.
In June 2011, CryoSat-2 provided the photographs which have allowed the first map of ice thickness in the Arctic Ocean, but this is the first time that the change of seasons is taken into account.
The scientific community already had proved the annual decrease the extent of Arctic ice due to climate change, but the CryoSat-2 measure its thickness both on land and ocean, which had not been made globally to date.
To obtain these data, the satellite uses an altimeter art and is able also to record images through clouds and darkness, which is very useful to depict a region exposed to harsh weather conditions during much of the year .
With the results of the project, involving about 150 scientists (one quarter of them British) from twelve universities and nine research institutes, analysts expect produce detailed maps of the evolution of ice thickness from year to year.
The publication of the map is part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the British presence in space.
Source: Environment Brazil
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.