Blue Blob (UPSC Current Affairs)

Relevance: GS3 - Environmental Pollution & Degradation Conservation

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Why in the News?

• According to new research, the "Blue blob," a region of cooling water in the North Atlantic Ocean near Iceland, may have temporarily slowed the melting of Arctic sea ice.
• The report also indicated that if temperatures are not controlled, the effects of climate change will catch up to the large ice chunks.

What is Blue Bob?

• The Blue Blob is a cold area south of Iceland and Greenland.
• The cold patch was prominently evident in the winter of 2014-2015 when the sea surface temperature was 1.4 degrees Celsius below usual.

How does Blue Bob help in Slowing Down Glacier Melting?

• According to reports, the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world, and Iceland's glaciers have been progressively shrinking since 1995, losing an average of 11 billion tonnes of ice per year.
• The Blue Blob has been connected to milder air temperatures over Iceland's glaciers and cooler waters since 2011. Iceland's melting has slowed since 2011, resulting in about half as much ice loss yearly.
• This tendency was not observed in the larger glaciers of Greenland and Svalbard, which are located close.
• Prior to the Blue Blob, the Atlantic Warming Hole, a long-term cooling trend in the same region, lowered sea surface temperatures by 0.4 to 0.8 degrees Celsius over the last century and may continue to do so in the future.
• A slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is one proposed reason for the Warming Hole (AMOC).
• The Arctic Meridional Overturning Movement (AMOC) is an ocean current that transports warm water from the tropics to the Arctic, limiting the amount of heat delivered to the region.

Arctic Region

• The Arctic Ocean and sections of Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Finland, Sweden, and Iceland make up the Arctic Region.
• The Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum, is made up of these countries. Nearly four million people live in the region, with about one-tenth of them being indigenous people.

India’s Engagement in the Arctic Region

• India's involvement in the Arctic began in February 1920, when it signed the Svalbard Treaty involving Spitsbergen in Paris alongside Norway, the United States, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Ireland, as well as the British overseas Dominions and Sweden. Since then, India has been keeping a careful eye on all developments in the Arctic.
• In 2007, India launched an Arctic research program focused on climate change in the region. Studying teleconnections between Arctic climate and Indian monsoon, characterizing Arctic sea ice using satellite data, and estimating the influence on global warming were among the goals.
• For research purposes, India already maintains a research station in the Arctic, Himadri.

How Important is the Arctic Pole for India?

• Despite the fact that no part of India's territory is located in the Arctic, it is an important region since the Arctic has an impact on the earth's ecosystem's atmospheric, oceanographic, and biogeochemical cycles.
• The region is experiencing a loss of sea ice, ice caps, and ocean warming as a result of climate change, which has an impact on the worldwide climate.
• One of the batteries feeding the changes in Indian monsoons is the icy Arctic, which is losing ice owing to global warming.
• The unfavorable consequences of the Arctic, according to a report published by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, are affecting not only the availability of mineral and hydrocarbon resources but also global shipping routes.
• Because the Arctic is expected to be ice-free by 2050, the region is of enormous geopolitical significance, with world countries rushing to utilize the region's abundant natural riches.
• India's Arctic Policy, titled "India and the Arctic: Building a Partnership for Sustainable Development," was released in March 2022.

Arctic Council

• The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental group that deals with issues that affect Arctic states and indigenous peoples.
• Currently, eight countries have sovereignty over regions within the Arctic Circle: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. Other countries or national groups can be allowed as observer states, whereas indigenous permanent participants can be organizations representing indigenous peoples' issues.
• The eight Arctic countries signed the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy in 1991, which was the first step toward the founding of the Council (AEPS).
• The Arctic Council was established in 1996 by the Ottawa Declaration as a forum for promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among Arctic states, with participation from Arctic Indigenous communities and other Arctic residents on issues such as sustainable development and environmental protection.

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