Arctic Climate Change: What’s Happening and Why It Matters
Summary of the presentation
The Arctic is warming approximately four times faster than anywhere else on Earth. One of the most visible signs is the rapid decline in sea ice, especially each September—a trend that often makes headlines. In this talk, we’ll take a closer look at what scientists have been observing in the Arctic, including changes in sea ice extent, thickness, and seasonality since the late 1970s, when satellites began measuring the region. We’ll also explore why the Arctic is warming so quickly, separating natural patterns from human-driven climate change caused by greenhouse gases.
Finally, we'll discuss what these changes mean for Arctic wildlife and communities, as well as for people living far from the North.
Throughout the presentation, I’ll highlight how the Arctic’s response to climate change differs dramatically from that of Antarctica, revealing the complexity and importance of this remarkable region.
Speaker(s)
Bruno Tremblay is a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at McGill University. His work focuses on climate change in the Arctic, specifically the evolution of sea ice in a warming climate. He is interested in the links between sea ice, the ocean, and the atmosphere, combining numerical modeling, the analysis of climate models and satellite data, and field observations.
He is the founder of the Canadian Arctic Buoy Program, developed with the support of Ferring Pharmaceuticals and, more recently, Northern communities, to improve the monitoring of ice conditions and the safety of over-ice travel. His research is funded by organizations including the World Wildlife Fund, Ouranos, the Canadian Space Agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), and NSERC.
His recent work on the rapid decline of summer sea ice and the Last Ice Area has contributed to scientific and public discussions regarding the impacts of climate change in the Arctic, both in Canada and internationally.
