On March 15, 2013, Arctic sea ice extent appears to have reached its annual maximum extent, marking the beginning of the sea ice melt season.
COI | Centre for Ocean and Ice | Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut
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Well, the data plotted here: http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seaice.recent.arctic.png
certainly suggests that that assertion is true.
So the interesting question is what drives the melt process now under way if it is not air temperature. Warm water inflows perhaps?
Winds compacted the ice in the Sea of Okhotsk, reducing the area and extent.
It’s not just compaction, the ice is beginning to melt back at the edges, as happens every year at this time. Why is the temperature north of 80 degrees relevant? The current ice edge is well south of that, in much warmer areas of the globe.
Ah yes, the Sea of Okhotsk plays a huge role in the summer minimum.
Wind action, at your service
cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/130124-25_suomi_npp_viirs_ir_ice_motion_barrow_ak_anim.gif
The sun melts the ice.
Wow, Steve, you really attract some smart people.
The sun cannot melt ice at -25C.
Now, if there are strong currents of warm water flowing into areas covered by ice, the warm water from underneath the ice can cause melting. But that has nothing to do about surface air temperature, it has to do with the ocean currents. Also, as Steve points out, the wind can compact ice, or it can push ice out of cold water into warmer water where it will melt.
Ice conditions in the Arctic cause some people to forget how to think straight! 😉 Maybe their brains are frozen when they think about the ice conditions!
Isn’t it interesting how peak ice used to be between Mar 1-11, now it’s about Mar 22, a couple of weeks later. The minimum seems to be staying within a few days of historic average.
http://arctic-roos.org/observations/satellite-data/sea-ice/observation_images/ssmi1_ice_area.png