18 - Melting Sea Ice

Earth from Space
Satellites have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the Arctic ice since 1993. Every summer, the Arctic ice cap melts to what scientists call its "minimum" before colder weather begins to make ice cover increase. This visualization shows how climate change is affecting Arctic sea ice extent over time (on left) and highlights the evolution of sea ice volume through years (on right). The decrease of sea ice volume is significant in all seasons. In 2023, Arctic minimum sea ice coverage was at its lowest on record, extending a long-term downward trend.
Credits :© ESA/Copernicus Marine Service

1
Cause

Melting Sea Ice


3
Other possible consequences

Melting Sea Ice

When the ice pack melts, a white surface is replaced by a dark blue surface, which has a lower albedo and therefore absorbs more energy. This relationship is not essential but it does allow another feedback loop of the game to be put forward.


Melting Sea Ice

The poor polar bear is a powerful symbol of the climat. If players make this connection, suggest they draw a bear!


Melting Sea Ice

There's probably some sort of link here...


3
Wrong consequences

Melting Sea Ice

This link would mark confusion with the amplifying effect due to albedo. The white sea ice melts to reveal a darker surface underneath and the extra energy absorbed warms the Earth. This mechanism is called albedo and has nothing to do with the greenhouse effect. It belongs to the orange arrows on card 13, not to the red arrows.


Melting Sea Ice

The melting of the Arctic ice pack, but also the melting of Greenland's glaciers may lead, in the distant future, to a disruption of the thermohaline circulation (which gives rise to the Gulf Stream). But beware, the "Water Cycle" card does not refer at all to the thermohaline circulation.


Melting Sea Ice

This it the trap in which participants can fall while playing with cards set n1. Therefore, do not ask them to read the cards from the beginning. Once they have put them in place, ask them to read the texts.