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Joe Romm has an interesting post today
Captain’s log from the Chukchi Sea: “The water temperature is 7.5 degrees. If we weren’t sailing, it would be a great temperature for a swim!”
Then Joe goes on :
And that’s why the ice can keep melting even after the air temperature goes above freezing.
Seems reasonable enough, if you don’t bother to use your brain much. There are a couple of minor problems.
- If there was any ice in the area, the water temperature would be buffered to just above the freezing point. The warm temperatures exist because there isn’t any ice.
- He probably meant “goes below freezing” rather than “goes above freezing”
Sure enough, there isn’t any ice in the Chukchi Sea. This time of year, the Chukchi Sea is normally almost ice free.
http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/recent365.anom.region.10.html
How are you going to melt ice that doesn’t exist Joe?
Yes, SSTs in the Chukchi Sea are above normal.
The stupid hurts. It really does.
“Goddard” – you really should stop pretending to be a scientist. You hear that sound? It’s your primary school science teacher rolling over in his grave.
The funny thing is, this time you are so very close to being right – far closer than usual. But still so spectacularly wrong! I’ll give you a clue: convection.
[Reply : This is just an ad hom attack. If you have a specific complaint about anything I wrote, then state it clearly.]
FYI,
JAXA extent shows 2010 just went below 2009 minimum.
Norsex extent just went above 2009, for the first time since July.
http://arctic-roos.org/observations/satellite-data/sea-ice/observation_images/ssmi_ice_ext.png
By perverse curiosity, perhaps, I followed the link to Climate Progress and then to Tamino’s site.
Considering the first reply to this topic, either you are annoying people to distraction or your subject matter has enough merit to intimidate and endanger the viewpoints and positions of some.
Personally, I look at data and opinion as valid sources of information. How they meld with my perspective remains to be determined as an open mind is one where anything is possible.
Not lowering yourself to the level of adhom attacks is the key. Not easy but important.
Sure enough, there isn’t any ice in the Chukchi Sea. This time of year, the Chukchi Sea is normally almost ice free.
Please define ‘normal’. I only see 2009 on the graph you posted. Was it ice free in the 80’s or 90’s?
Neven: That information is already in the graph.
Current level is ~0 million sq km, with an anomaly of -0.1 million sq km.
Maximum level is ~0.6 million sq km, with an anomaly of 0 million sq km.
That means that ‘normal’ is 0.6 million sq km at maximum and 0.1 million sq km at minimum. This year it has completely melted out, i.e. 20% greater melt than ‘normal’.
BTW, Steven, if I may, I find that Unisys map very inaccurate (it isn’t showing much of the Arctic).
I prefer this SST map from NCEP’s Marine Modeling and Analysis Branch of the Environmental Modeling Center and this anomaly SST map from JAXA/EORC.
Btw, a more derisive title for this post might well be Rommantics…. 😉