Post by Zadkiel on Jun 11, 2016 10:44:02 GMT
The effects of global climate changes in the Arctic have globally relevant repercussions, with numerous impacts flowing back to the rest of the world. These include faster sea level rise owing to greater ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet, altered weather patterns due to jet stream perturbation, altered planetary energy balance resulting from lower light-reflectivity of formerly snow-and-ice-covered surfaces, increasing greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost soils and methane hydrates and the psychological loss of globally iconic species like the polar bear. Within the Arctic countries, reduced winter-road access over frozen water and ground presents non-trivial socio-economic costs to Arctic populations, transportation networks and global commodity markets.
