Module VIII: Sea Ice

Module VIII: Sea Ice

Explain:

The most interesting thing that I learned from this module was the extent that arctic sea ice is melting each year. Also interesting is that there is a positive feedback loop aiding in this arctic climate change. The TD diagrams that illustrate the reflection of the sun’s energy from ice and then absorption of that same energy by the uncovered water is very helpful in understanding this relationship. 

The "Watching Ice Melt" lab made me think about water level change as a result of melting sea ice. Although I knew that ice had more volume than water I did not consider the effect that this would have on ocean levels if arctic ice continues to decline.  I am very interested to learn in the next module about the melting of terrestrial ice.

Extend and Evaluate:

After a little bit of digging I found the NASA site to be very informative when understanding sea ice coverage and minimum and maximum extents of the ice. I believe we looked at this site in a previous mod., but the information is still very relevant and the briefing materials that I have linked here are very informative and graphical.

Courtesy of NASA

The image above shows the age of the sea ice and displays the importance of short cool summers in growing ice on both sea and land as well. 

In my social studies classes I won’t be using a lot of this material. However, if longer summers persist the natural processes and populations will continue to be forced to adjust accordingly. 

Three Colleagues:

I commented on Amy’s Explore Alaska blog and agreed with her that the watching ice melt lab was very cool and I mentioned that some genuine learning is taking place in her classroom!

Konrad has some awesome pics again on his blog and a link to information about a permafrost tunnel in Fairbanks!

David Wages poses an interesting idea that the increased melting might be causing more cooling. I also think this is an interesting proposition.