The Bering Strait is an intimidating sea strait that links the Arctic Ocean with the Bering Sea. This strait separates Asia and North America. Scientists believe that the strait was the land bridge during the last Ice Age which allowed the crossing of man and mammal from Asia to the North American continent.
The Bering Strait is approximately 53 miles wide at its narrowest, with an average depth of 98–160 ft.
The Strait connects the Chukchi Sea in the north with the Bering Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean in the south. While some Bering Sea water passes through the strait into the Arctic Ocean, most of it returns to the Pacific.
Arctic sea ice is struggling toward its seasonal peak, hitting a record low for the month of February following another record low set in January. The northern hemisphere’s air conditioner is missing ice measuring about 448,000 square miles, compared to the 1981-2010 long-term average, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. This strange and terrifyingly warm Arctic winter, has experienced below average snowfall and temperatures much above average. The Arctic is in very big trouble, and I am afraid we haven’t seen nothing yet. NASA Worldview has released images of the breakup and they are quite disturbing. The ice is beginning to crumble on March 12th This image is from 2 days ago. March 14th. TechInsider broke this story with a hat tip to Paul Beckwith.While epic, the event is not that shocking.
The Earth is now emerging from its warmest winter on record. The Northern Hemisphere in particular also just slipped past an alarming 2-degree-Celsius average temperature for the first time in history.
Polar regions like the Arctic are our canaries in the global warming coal mine. We're already facing worldwide sea level rise and extreme weather events that are now officially linked to climate change.
If this isn't a wake-up call, we don't know what is.
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