The US Department of Interior has released over one thousand spy images of the Arctic and other areas in the US. These images, kept secret during the George Bush era, reveal the devastating impact of global warming in the Arctic. The images show huge areas of summer ice cover have disappeared.
Scientitsts can now better understand rapid loss and transformation of Arctic sea ice. These images will go a long way in helping them assess the pace of global warming, and better understand the future.
These images show detailed melting and freezing processes and also provide information at scales, locations, and time periods that are important for studying effects of climate change on sea ice and habitat.
The Arctic ice cap plays an important role in regulating the global climate. Disappearing summer sea ice poses considerable dangers. Arctic is critical for endangered animals like polar bears and Arctic seals. Ice shelves are used by animals such as polar bears for hunting seals and other creatures.
The declassified pictures show how global warming is changing the Arctic. More than a million square kilometres of sea ice were missing in the summer of 2007 compared with the previous year, which is a record loss.
It was only a few days back the National Research Council demanded the releasing of the images.
During the 1990s, a programme was started in which scientists recommended collection and archival of high-resolution classified imagery from intelligence sources at environmentally sensitive locations around the globe, with the eventual goal of declassifying and releasing the images to the broader scientific community for research purposes.
In 1999, scientists requested that images of sea ice at four locations in the Arctic basin be collected during the summer months; two additional locations were added in 2005. Data have been collected at these sites during the summer months until the present day.
Scientitsts can now better understand rapid loss and transformation of Arctic sea ice. These images will go a long way in helping them assess the pace of global warming, and better understand the future.
These images show detailed melting and freezing processes and also provide information at scales, locations, and time periods that are important for studying effects of climate change on sea ice and habitat.
The Arctic ice cap plays an important role in regulating the global climate. Disappearing summer sea ice poses considerable dangers. Arctic is critical for endangered animals like polar bears and Arctic seals. Ice shelves are used by animals such as polar bears for hunting seals and other creatures.
The declassified pictures show how global warming is changing the Arctic. More than a million square kilometres of sea ice were missing in the summer of 2007 compared with the previous year, which is a record loss.
It was only a few days back the National Research Council demanded the releasing of the images.
During the 1990s, a programme was started in which scientists recommended collection and archival of high-resolution classified imagery from intelligence sources at environmentally sensitive locations around the globe, with the eventual goal of declassifying and releasing the images to the broader scientific community for research purposes.
In 1999, scientists requested that images of sea ice at four locations in the Arctic basin be collected during the summer months; two additional locations were added in 2005. Data have been collected at these sites during the summer months until the present day.
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