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Steitz
Headquarters, Washington October 1, 2001
(Phone: 202/358-1730)
Lynn Chandler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/286-2806)
RELEASE: 01-189
From 1990 to 1999 the situation was reversed, with the ice
cover to the east and north of the Low increasing and the ice
cover to the west of the Low decreasing. "This regional
pattern of reversals in the ice extent trends is highly
suggestive of an Icelandic Low impact, or, more broadly, of
an impact from the North Atlantic Oscillation," Parkinson
explained. "Still, the satellite data reveal an overall
decrease in Arctic sea ice extent since 1978."
The overall decrease in sea ice cover has generated questions
about whether Arctic sea ice is being influenced by global
warming. Parkinson urges caution in drawing conclusions for
decreases in Arctic ice. "The trend of decreasing ice extent
showed some signs of reversing in the 1990s," she noted.
"Whether the ice cover as a whole will continue to exhibit
the decreases that it experienced over the 1979 to 1999
period might depend on the strength and phase of the NAO, as
well as on long-term trends in the climate system."
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