Reducing methane emissions could play a significant role in saving Arctic sea ice

It’s normal for Arctic sea ice — the stuff floating on the water’s surface, not the large ice sheets we’re used to hearing about in climate coverage — to melt in warmer seasons, but not completely.

That could change by the 2030s, when research suggests the Arctic could see its first summer with no sea ice at all. And that’s a problem, said Tianyi Sun, a climate scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund.

When the ice melts, "we are replacing the very reflective ice surface with dark ocean water. And that means more sunlight will get absorbed by the Arctic ocean, and that means more warming globally,” Sun explained on this week’s episode of Climate Cast.

But new research from Sun and her colleagues shows summer sea ice could be saved if we aggressively reduce methane emissions alongside carbon reductions. And she said the technology to do so is not only available now, it’s relatively affordable.

To hear more from Sun, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.