Arctic ice is melting faster than expected — and the culprit could be dust

Space.com ^ | March 16, 2025 | Tom Brown

[where's_the_Outrage?]

"The Arctic is changing faster than anywhere else on the planet, so the question we’re trying to ask here is: Is the Arctic going to change fast, or really fast?"

NASA's most ambitious Arctic voyage to date has revealed surprisingly high concentrations of ice particles in clouds over Greenland, a clue that may help explain why Arctic ice is melting even faster than predicted.

"The Arctic is changing faster than anywhere else on the planet, so the question we're trying to ask here is: Is the Arctic going to change fast — or really fast?" Patrick Taylor, the deputy science lead for the mission known as ARCSIX, for Arctic Radiation Cloud Aerosol Surface Interaction Experiment, told Space.com.

This bold mission to one of the world's most forbidding regions involved sending a small fleet of instrument-laden planes, including a NASA C-130 and a P-3 Orion, to dart through Arctic clouds and drop buoys into gaps in iceberg-laden waters below. While agency scientists are still studying the data, which was collected last summer, they say it's already clear that dust from Greenland's increasingly exposed landmass is melting vulnerable sea ice toward northern parts of the globe.

The ARCSIX plane flew in the summer of 2024, from May until July 25, when seasonal sea ice melt was at its height. The team expected to find ice with a thickness of about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters); instead, they saw a thickness of just 7.2 feet (2.2 meters). "It’s alluding to the fact that this thicker sea ice north of Greenland is not as sustainable as it once was," Linette Boisvert, the ARCSIX cryosphere lead, told Space.com.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

If they measure Artic summer ice this year based on the extremely cold winter I'd expect a significant increase in ice. IMHO one extremely cold winter could erase all the previous summer melts.

From the artice: Collecting so much data in such a remote place ws an extreme logistics challenge..."I get shivers just thinking about it," Christina McCluskey, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Science, told Space.com.

Is that something like the Chris Mattews "leg tingle"?

[ClearCase_guy]

Well ... the first thing NASA is going to do ... is strand 2 people on the North Pole for 9 months.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

On the other hand, it might just be someone's imagination run wild.

[KeyLargo]

Is the culprit Greenland?

NASA scientists hypothesize that as the ice retreats, more of Greenland’s exposed landmass is shedding dust, which is then carried north by heavy winds to form ice particles in the clouds above. These dust-heavy clouds then disappear more quickly and leave more Arctic ice exposed, hastening the melt.

“The sea ice north of Greenland had a giant opening in it in the summer months,” says Boisvert. “We think it’s caused by really warm, moist air being blown through Fram Strait,” a passage between Greenland and Svalbard, “up and towards the central Arctic.”

[BipolarBob]

I blame Democrats.
Van Jones: Dems Unleashing ‘Volcanic Anger’ Towards Schumer for Caving article explains this greenhouse warming event.

[Yo-Yo]

Dust my ass.

One of the issues is China’s increased coal burning spewing carbon black into the atmosphere that precipitates onto the arctic ice pack.

The black specks melt the ice faster than ‘clean’ ice by absorbing more solar energy.

[MurrietaMadman]

There's a dust for every occasion

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4280834/posts?q=1&;page=1

[yesthatjallen]

I read an article the earth is warming faster because the air is getting cleaner. Where is the dust coming from?

[BiteYourSelf]

And it doesn’t mean a thing,because article ice is already floating in the ocean.🙄

[kawhill]

“The Arctic is changing faster than anywhere else on the planet, so the question we’re trying to ask here is: Is the Arctic going to change fast — or really fast?” Patrick Taylor, the deputy science lead for the mission known as ARCSIX, for Arctic Radiation Cloud Aerosol Surface Interaction Experiment, told Space.com. Really fast Patrick? Why don’t we study that conceptually.

[Leaning Right]

The solution is simple. We must immediately outlaw all forms of dust.

And yes, woodworkers. That includes sawdust.

[kawhill]

That looks like it might be a piece of sugar or black maple.

[wildcard_redneck]

I would assume the culprit is most likely agricultural ploughing in the grain belts of Russia, Canada, and the US.

[Leaning Right]

> would assume the culprit is most likely agricultural ploughing… <

I would assume that these “climate scientists” are either greatly exaggerating or just making things up.

Because those folks have a history of bending the data to fit the narrative.

[kawhill]

Some farmers out here in Kansas still do tillage work on their fields, some have went to no-till farming practices. Prices to pay, less soil erosion, but at the expense of more chemical application.

[Racketeer]

Maybe Space X can figure out how to slow the earth’s tilt or weaken the solar storms.

[Glad2bnuts]

Dust causes raindrops to form, cold air above, turns water(rain) into ice or snow... that means MORE snow or rain. That is science.

[montag813]

Good thing Antarctica ice is GROWING then

[tet68]

Save the Arctic ice...pave Greenland !!!

A few more Walmarts and Whataburgers should do it !!

[RetiredTexasVet]

Probably BS by NASA. Why isn’t NOAA charged with it, although both agencies are corrupt when it comes to “climate change” alleged to be science.