Figure 2. Source: STROEVE, Julienne, “Sea Ice and Climate”, Talk given at the Simposio Internacional: El Ártico: Opor-tunidades y riesgos derivados del cambio climático. Organised by Fundación Ramón Areces, Madrid, 12 November 2015. http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 284 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 10 / 2017 With regards to the Arctic melt, we should not confuse the thaw caused by the change of seasons with that caused by climate change. In summer, large expanses of the Arctic Ocean have no ice cover and they freeze again in winter.1819 The problem is that the ice melt caused by climate change affects ice cover in all seasons. As NSIDC scientist Julienne Stroeve has pointed out: “The really interesting thing is that we see these changes throughout all seasons. Ice loss in the Arctic was 2.6% per decade in winter and more than 13.4% per decade in summer”20. Projected Sea Ice Extent If scientists’ calculations are correct - some claim that the Arctic Ocean will be ice free beyond the 21st century21, if not sooner22 - this will have numerous implications 18 “Maximum extent occurs in February/March (14-16 million km2 or 5-6 million square miles), minimum extent occurs in September (7-8 million km2 or about 3 million square miles)” in STROEVE, Julienne, “Sea Ice and Climate” talk given at the Simposio Internacional: El Ártico: Oportunidades y riesgos derivados del cambio climático. Organised by Fundación Ramón Areces and coordinated by Professor Elena Conde Pérez. Madrid, 12 November 2015. 19 STOKKE, Olav Schram, “Environmental Security in the Arctic. The Case for Multilevel Governance”, International Journal, autumn 2011, p. 838. 20 STROEVE, Julienne, “Sea Ice and Climate” talk given at the Simposio Internacional: El Ártico: Oportunidades y riesgos derivados del cambio climático. Organised by Fundación Ramón Areces and coordinated by Professor Elena Conde Pérez. Madrid, 12 November 2015. 21 ACIA, Impacts of a Warming Arctic: Highlights, Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, Canada, Cambridge University Press, 2004. Available at: http://www.amap.no/documents/doc/impacts-of-a-warming- arctic-highlights/792 (Accessed on 12-11-2015). 22 NSIDC, “Models Underestimate Loss of Sea Ice”, Published 30-4-2007. Available at: http:// nsidc.org/news/newsroom/20070430_StroeveGRL.html (Accessed on 09-11-2015).
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