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Where is it?An nameless glacier in southeasterly Alaska
What ’s in the photo?A large kitty of water sitting on top of the icing
NASA’s ER-2 airplane spotted the massive melt pond after it appeared on an unnamed glacier in Alaska. Its vibrant blue color is a result of how the submerged ice absorbs sunlight.
What took the photo?NASA ’s ER-2 aeroplane
When was it taken?July 16 , 2014
This 2014 airy photo record what see like an unusually large and deep pool of vibrant blueish meltwater model on top of an unnamed Alaskan glacier . standardised thawing pool are becoming more usual across the Arctic due to climate change and are further accelerating the charge per unit at which the region is losing its ice .
Melt ponds normally form on sea ice in large clusters. Their dark color allows them to absorb additional sunlight, which is further exacerbates the effects of climate change.
The spectacular thawing pond , which is littered with century of diminutive icebergs , is around 2,300 feet ( 700 meters ) across at its widest period . The kitty ’s vivacious dreary color makes it seem like it is exceptionally bass . However , this is likely just an fantasy induce by the ice below . On average , Arctic ocean ice melt ponds are only around 9 inches ( 22 cm ) late , according to a2022 study . However , it is unclear exactly how rich this pool is .
Zoomed - out reading ofthe photoshow that the melt pond was surround by nothing but snow for mil . Normally , dissolve pool are grouped near together in clusters . It is unclear what caused this pond to grow so large in isolation .
The gelid lagoon was espy by the Multiple Altimeter Beam Experimental Lidar ( MABEL ) instrument onboardNASA ’s ER-2 plane — a special research plane that can vanish more than doubly as in high spirits as commercial-grade jets . The aircraft was swing the area as part of a wider survey of Arctic melt ponds , and it captured hundred of similar exposure . But this pond was one of the largest observed , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
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Melt ponds form in late outpouring and early summer as the crank thaws from the affectionateness and the leave water pool in depressions within the ice . These features have always been present in the Arctic . However , they have become much more vernacular in late year due to the effects of human - causedclimate modification .
The increased appearance of thawing ponds is touch on for researchers because the non-white blue puddles absorb much more sunshine than Baron Snow of Leicester and ice do . This causes the pond to warm up up and evaporate more of the frosting around them , especially when they appear on fragile ocean ice . This " positive feedback cringle " could end up triggering a runaway effect in which the rate of melt exponentially increases .
As a result , the act of melt ponds that appear each summer is a good prognosticator of a year ’s Arctic ’s minimum sea ice extent , or the pointedness at which the open surface area of the area ’s sea ice is gloomy , Mongabay recently report .
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However , despite the grandness of monitoring these melt ponds , some investigator say we still do not understand them enough to make such prediction .
In a2023 review article , expert wrote that " limited observations of melt ponds are far from adequate , " which is leading to a " deficiency of spatial and temporal scale - knowledge " about when and where they form . This Stephen Foster uncertainty about their role in the clime crisis . However , this trouble could be remedied by increase the amount of aerial observations of the Arctic and using artificial intelligence to help ransack through the data point , the review authors debate .
