Sea Ice and CO2 Levels

Results for the South Pole are also shown.This simulation shows how increasing CO2 levels may affect sea ice thickness at the poles. Visualizations are shown for both a control run, where CO2 levels remain constant, and an experimental run, with CO2 levels increasing at 1 percent per year.

The 50-year control run reveals no perceptible change in ice thickness. However, after 140 years of integration the increasing CO2 run obtains a quadrupling of atmospheric CO2 and shows a dramatic reduction in sea ice thickness at the North Pole. The ice thickness is depicted with a blue to white color mapping, where white represents the thickest ice.