Geographer Mark Serreze says a big Arctic melt is inevitable and readies us for what comes next

摘要

When Mark Serreze first traveled to the Arctic, in 1982, he was hit with a thrilling expanse of white. "It was just the most incredible, beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was hooked," he says. Returning many times, he got a Ph.D. in Arctic science and for 25 years has studied the region's snow and storms. Serreze recently recognized that current climate trends mean that the seasonal Arctic ice could melt in 20 years or less. He is now trying to help the world prepare for a very different Arctic: a place of diminished species, increased vegetation, and easy travel through the Northwest Passage. Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Serreze spoke to DISCOVER about the future of the place he loves.