This is our footprint in the arctic melt

A new study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and published by Science has quantified for the first time the direct contribution of every person on the planet to the melting of the Arctic: for every ton of CO2 they emit each of us, 3 m2 of arctic ice disappear.

The decrease in the ice surface in the Arctic Ocean is the most obvious sign of climate change, an aspect that also aggravates the problem of global warming, since the replacement of reflective white surface by blue sea increases the absorption potential of solar rays from Earth. A recent animated video from NASA visualizes the worrying evolution of the arctic:

Beyond the large global figures, the new study from the Max Planck Institute led by Professor Dirk Notz wanted to personalize the data so that each person can be more aware of their particular contribution to global warming. Thus, It has been possible to calculate that, on average, each Western citizen emits ten tons of CO2 into the air every year, contributing to the disappearance of 30 meters of Arctic ice. The problem is exacerbated in the US, Canada and Australia, with an annual loss of 50 square meters of ice per inhabitant, with which the average family destroys the equivalent of a football field each year. Among Spanish citizens, the average is between 10 and 20 square meters of snowmelt each year per inhabitant