The Arctic is essential to helping the earth be habitable. If there was no Arctic, the planet would be much different than it is now.
First, it will have a major impact on the climate. The Arctic reflects a lot of the radiation from the sun back into space, allowing the earth to stay at good temperatures. This is an example of the albedo, which is “the fraction of sunlight that is diffusely reflected by a body” (taken from the Wikipedia article on albedo). If there is more radiation from the sun in the earth, more heat would be absorbed in darker ocean waters due to less ice to reflect the sunlight. This would accelerate global warming by a lot. We would also lose thermohaline circulation, which is “the movement of ocean currents due to differences in temperature and salinity in different regions of water” (taken from “Energy Education”). Without the Arctic, this circulation would be disrupted, which would lead to many unpredictable climate change, such as changed rainfall and temperature all around the world. It would cause droughts in some areas and excessive rainfall in others.
It would also cause the sea levels to rise. The Arctic has very large ice sheets and glaciers that are melting due to global temperatures rising. If they melt completely, sea level would rise by several meters. This would cause millions of people that live in coastal areas (such as Miami, New York City, and Dhaka) to lose their home. Even if just the Greenland ice sheet (which is part of the Arctic) melted, sea level would rise about 7 meters (which is about 23 feet).
It would also cause Arctic ecosystems to collapse. Species like polar bears, Arctic foxes, and walruses need sea ice to survive. With the Arctic melting, there would not be any sea ice for them to survive. It would also affect marine life. The Arctic waters have many nutrients. Losing sea ice would alter those nutrients, which would harm marine species.
It would also release greenhouse gases (GHGs). The Arctic has a lot of permafrost, which is a frozen soil, and permafrost as GHGs in them. If permafrost melts, GHGs (specifically carbon dioxide and methane) are released into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming. This would release up to 1,500 gigatons of carbon, which would accelerate climate change.
Lastly, we would see alterations in weather patterns. The Arctic stabilizes the jet stream, which is a band of wind in the far North that influences the weather in the Northern hemisphere. If there was no Arctic, the jet stream would function much different compared to how it does now. It would cause many extreme weather events like a long heatwave or harsher winter. This would be bad for agriculture, water supply, and just living in general for places around the globe.
As you have learned, we need the Arctic in order to live an easy life. At this rate, we are expecting the Arctic to melt by 2040, although it will only be ice-free during summer in the Northern hemisphere. Unless you have always wanted these to happen, you should not be looking forward to this.
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