Earth without ice cover: satellite pictures first captured Alaska without snow

10 February 2025, 22:57 | Technologies
photo Фокус
Text Size:

Over the past few years, scientists warn of the climatic crisis overhanging over the planet: as a result, the world has encountered incredible waves of heat and drought. Now new satellite pictures also show that unusual weather conditions and climate changes have led to sharp changes in the northwestern state, writes Live Science.

New satellite pictures show the sharp pace of global warming in Alaska, when last year's snow disappeared, leaving behind kilometers of bare land. Photos were taken by NASA Terra and Aqua satellites, equipped with a moderate resolution of a spectroraniometer. Scientists watched the Bristol-Bay district in the south of Alaska, where the average depth of snow cover in January was about 33 centimeters from 1998 to 2025.

The focus. Technology has its own Telegram channel. Subscribe so as not to miss the latest and most exciting news from the world of science!

But this year, the station, like other parts of the state, reported an almost complete absence of snow on Earth: satellite pictures show large areas of sushi without snow. Research results show that since December 2024, the temperature throughout the state was 3-6 degrees Celsius above normal, and even greater abnormalities were observed in the isolated areas.

Now scientists believe that high temperatures led to the melting of the existing snow and ice and the loss of new precipitation in the form of rain. Since the climate change heats the planet, the Arctic regions, such as Alaska, experience sharp rates of warming, and the temperature grows four times faster than in the rest of the world. Observations show that the average temperature in Anchorida in January of the current years was -1.5 degrees Celsius, which is 7.2 degrees higher than average.

Scientists believe that there are several reasons for this: firstly, unusual weather conditions in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean provoked a sea wave of heat throughout North America this winter. The authors of the study note that this warming was aggravated in Alaska due to a warm ridge of high-pressure air hanging over the state. Secondly, climate change is increasingly destroying the sea ice of the region, which acts as a protective shield that reflects the sun's rays back into space. Note that this phenomenon is known as the Albedo effect and now works in the opposite direction: melting sea ice exposes darker waters that absorb more sunlight.

In simple words, this means that the Earth heats up, and the Arctic regions turn from planetary refrigerators into radiators. This leads to the fact that the snow cover of Alaska, the snow that accumulates in winter and melts in the spring, is reduced.



The authors of the study also note that climatic models predict that by the middle of this century a sharp reduction in snow cover will threaten the region’s glaciers and bring stronger storms and more precipitation. For example, at the end of last month, dispersing the high -pressure front led to a impulse of the Arctic winds that returned negative temperatures throughout the state. However, local forecasts do not suggest that this will last for a long time: it is expected that by mid -February the staff will return above the norm.

Previously, Focus wrote that the Arctic lost a monstrous amount of ice: scientists were not read 1.29 million km? Square.

Based on materials: livescience.com



Add a comment
:D :lol: :-) ;-) 8) :-| :-* :oops: :sad: :cry: :o :-? :-x :eek: :zzz :P :roll: :sigh:
 Enter the correct answer