warm atlantic waters wage a new assault on arctic ice from below a new enemy is undermining ice floating on the arctic ocean : heat from below .
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new research sheds light on the latest example of the changes afoot , showing that parts of the arctic ocean are becoming more like the atlantic .
climate change is melting the sea ice so rapidly that parts of the arctic ocean are beginning to take on characteristics of the atlantic ocean .
deep below the arctic , however , we ’re in uncharted waters — it is , after all , a the arctic is undergoing an astonishingly rapid transition as climate change overwhelms the region .
sensors that have plumbed the depths of arctic seas since 2002 have found warm currents creeping up from the atlantic ocean and helping drive the dramatic retreat of sea ice there over the last decade .
when healthy , the arctic ocean exhibits a surprisingly resolute system of stratification — thick layers of ice that provide a natural barrier to nutrient mixing , one of the hallmarks of an ocean like the atlantic .
the paper shows “ a massive shift ” in the behavior of the arctic ocean as a new , powerful driver of melting , alongside losses due to rising air temperatures .
the change could affect everything from how freshwater is stored and delivered to how the ocean itself responds to increasing acidity , according to a study published in the journal science on thursday .