00:00The Arctic sea ice extent reached the second lowest level for the month of December in the
00:0444-year satellite record. The decline in ice coverage that we've been witnessing is truly
00:10astonishing. And as you can see from this chart, the recent drop in sea ice extent has been quite
00:16dramatic. Just a month ago, back in November, there was still plenty of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.
00:23Now we're at just over 720,000 square kilometers or about 278,000 square miles of remaining ice.
00:32This is only the second lowest extent for this time of the year since the beginning of
00:36satellite records in 1979. The lowest December extent on record was just two years ago. In 2020,
00:43when the Arctic Ocean had only 678,000 square kilometers or about 262,000 square miles of
00:52sea ice left. And if we take a look at the average extent for the past 30 years,
00:57we can see how far below the average the current ice extent is.
01:01As you know, sea ice plays a critical role in regulating the global climate by reflecting
01:06sunlight back into space. But unfortunately, as temperatures warm, the ice melts, which
01:13results in less sunlight being reflected and more being absorbed, leading to further warming.
01:18The decline in sea ice extent that we are currently seeing is unprecedented in both speed and scale,
01:25and it's happening much faster than even the most aggressive IPCC projections predicted.
01:31It is happening right now, before our very eyes. As an example, back in October, the sea ice extent
01:38dropped to the third lowest level since records began. At the time, we made a video where we shared
01:44this information and our viewers commented that nothing would come of it, that it's not a big
01:49deal because winter is coming and new ice will form. Well, that didn't happen. Winter did come,
01:54but the ice extent continues to remain extremely low. In fact, it's going lower and lower. Even though
02:01the temperatures have dropped well below freezing, December air temperatures over the Arctic were above
02:06freezing. The average temperature was about 4 degrees Celsius, or about 39 degrees Fahrenheit, which is
02:12more than 30 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than the average for this time of the year. And that is why
02:18we don't see any improvement in terms of the ice coverage. The conditions are just too warm. And
02:25here's another interesting point to consider. So far, we've been talking about the Arctic region,
02:31but what about the Antarctic ice sheet? Is it melting as well? Yes, it is. According to a recent report by the
02:38Antarctic Guardian, Antarctica's ice sheet is melting faster than at any time in the last 5,000 years.
02:45The findings were published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Researchers used a 3D model to
02:51reconstruct past ice sheets to determine how fast they melted. They found that even if commissions are
02:57curbed, the Antarctic ice sheet will continue to melt for centuries to come. Lead author of the study,
03:04Dr. Jonathan Mellon from the University of New England in Armadale. Australia said that their
03:09research shows that irreversible ice loss is already baked in and unavoidable. He added that
03:15even if we stop emitting greenhouse gases today, the ice sheet will continue to melt for many centuries to
03:21come. The reason for that is that once the ice sheet starts thinning, it becomes unstable and we need to
03:28get the global temperature down to give it a chance to recover. So they say, no, let's go back to the
03:33Arctic and have a look at some other charts. Here's the Arctic sea ice volume. It's even worse than the
03:40sea ice extent chart we looked at previously. The Arctic sea ice volume is at the second lowest level on
03:47record. There's only 1,283 cubic kilometers of ice left. That's almost 23% below the 1991 to 2020 average.
03:57You may remember back in September when the volume dropped to the lowest level ever recorded.
04:02That record didn't stand for long. By mid-October, the volume had already dropped to the new record
04:09low. And here's the four-year trend. We can see that in the past four years, the sea ice volume has
04:15been dropping like a rock. Each year gets worse than the previous one. Another amazing chart I want to
04:21share with you is this one. It illustrates the volume of ice lost from the Arctic in real time.
04:27You may remember this chart from our previous video. Back then, the volume of ice lost was
04:32approximately 1,389 cubic kilometers per day. Now it's 1,563 cubic kilometers per day. This rate of
04:41ice loss is alarming and suggests that the Arctic sea ice volume will continue to decrease in the coming
04:47months. Of course, we will keep an eye on this. In addition to that, researchers with the University
04:53of Washington published a study recently showing that the Arctic ice sheet is likely to disappear
05:00during the summer at least every other year by the end of this century. They came to this conclusion
05:06after studying snow and ice cores taken from the summit of the Greenland ice sheet. The lead author of
05:13the study said that based on the results from their first three years of drilling, they see evidence of
05:19rapid change. He went on to explain that even if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the
05:26end of the century. Their results suggest that the semi-annual disappearance of the summer ice sheet
05:31is virtually guaranteed. All of these alarming reports and data really make us wonder, what is
05:38driving the melting of the Arctic ice? And is it something that we can stop or reverse? Unfortunately,
05:44the answer is that yes, we are causing this damage. Humans are responsible for the unprecedented rise in
05:51global temperatures that is melting the ice. Our burning of fossil fuels has trapped more heat in the
05:57atmosphere, leading to rising temperatures. And as long as we continue to emit greenhouse gases, the
06:04temperature will keep rising. And unfortunately, according to the latest IPCC report, human-caused emissions are
06:12likely to cause total Arctic sea ice to shrink, even if global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
06:19If emissions continue unabated, the Arctic will be virtually ice-free in the month of September,
06:25by the year 2100. As you can see, things are changing rapidly, and it seems like everything we've
06:33been dismissing as conspiracy theories or fake news turns out to be true. What do you think? Let me know
06:39in the comments below. This is a very important topic that affects all of us. And I believe that we need
06:46to be aware of what is happening and have an open discussion about it. The biggest problem is that
06:51people in power refuse to take action, refuse to admit that there is an issue, or they know that there
06:58is no turning back. And we wouldn't want to upset the status quo, would we? If you watched my video
07:05covering the recent Davos meeting, Klaus Schwab said that the Davos elites don't care about your
07:10quality of life. They don't care about the problems that ordinary people face. And it appears that they
07:16don't care about the imminent climate disaster either. They have their own plans for us. Plans that are
07:22clearly not for our benefit. And those plans include mass migration and depopulation. I would love to hear
07:29from you. Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. And while you are there, make sure
07:36to follow our channel to stay up to date with our latest videos. If you enjoyed this video, show your
07:41support. Give it a thumbs up, share it, and subscribe. As always, stay informed. Most importantly, stay free.
Comments