Notes: Climatologist Paul Beckwith from the University of Ottawa, is an expert on the Arctic. He closely follows the impact that a decreasing polar ice cap is having on our climate system. In a nutshell, he considers it an "Emergency" situation.

This is how he describes the serious state of this situation:

"Within a year or two or three there will be no sea-ice cover on the Arctic Ocean in September for the first time in about 3 million years. Within a decade or two the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free all-year round. We will lose our snow and ice winter in the northern hemisphere. Our planet is undergoing an abrupt change with very powerful feedbacks propelling us to this much warmer world."

Just one year ago, the National Snow and Ice Center (NSIDC) reported Arctic sea ice extent reached record-shattering minimum. The previous record for low sea ice in the Arctic was 2007. NSIDC stated, "the 2012 minimum is 18% below 2007."

Arctic sea ice extent has been monitored by satellite since 1979. Unfortunately, NSIDC event on to note that Arctic sea ice "49% below the 1979 to 2000 average."

What caused Arctic sea ice to melt so quickly?  Most Arctic experts, such as Paul Beckwith and scientific writer Neven, think it is the result of human caused clmate change.  

What are the consequences of less Arctic sea ice? As Paul Beckwith says, "'What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic'. Unlike Las Vegas."

Beckwith notes that less Arctic sea ice has recently caused the Jet Stream to slow down and become more unstable. The unstable jet stream with more heat in our atmosphere influences weather events, such as Superstorm Sandy, 2012 US heatwave and drought, and even the long term severe drought in Syria.  

Beckwith then points out that with extreme weather events, "there is an ever increasing disruption to the global food supply which is quickly leading to price volatility and destabilization of marginal governments." (emphasis mine)

Naran Chanda is a foreign policy expert and the editor-in-chief the YaleGlobal Online Magazine. He recently told NPR argues there were many triggers that caused the current current Syrian civil war: ethnic factions, economic divides and religions differences. However, he argues we should also look at climate change as a factor.  

Syria faced a devastating drought between 2006 and 2010, which caused civil unrest.

Thus, human caused climate change, while breaking up the Arctic, can also influence unstable regions of the world, such as the Middle East, especially Syria.  

As Arctic expert Neven recently wrote, reducing climate change is not about "it's not about saving the Arctic, it's about saving ourselves."

Image Source: Scientific American, Flickr/NASA/Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio