Ice Station Zero Loss

13 Responses to Ice Station Zero Loss

1. MichaelM says:

   July 25, 2011 at 3:27 pm

   Just checked DMI today. They actually show an UPtick. Should be an interesting few months.

   Reply
   • Murray says:

     July 25, 2011 at 9:02 pm

     The North East Passage opened briefly on Friday, it’s closed again now….http://igloo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/test/print.sh?fm=07&fd=22&fy=2011&sm=07&sd=23&sy=2011

     Reply
     • J Calvert N says:

       July 25, 2011 at 9:22 pm

       That graphic only shows 30% concentration and above. Try this . . .http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/N_bm_extent_hires.png

       Reply
2. Ill wind blowing says:

   July 25, 2011 at 4:33 pm

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrnJd0Dd5aI&feature=player_embedded

   Reply
   • stevengoddard says:

     July 25, 2011 at 4:54 pm

     Brilliant. If you read the NSIDC monthly news you would know that Beaufort Sea temps have been below normal.

     Reply
     • Peter Ellis says:

       July 25, 2011 at 7:01 pm

       So. Ice extent in the Beaufort is well below normal despite cold temperatures. And this is a reason for us not to worry? Sorry, not following your logic.

       Reply
       • stevengoddard says:

         July 25, 2011 at 7:02 pm

         In early June there were strong southerly winds which compacted the ice to the north. I blogged about this at the time.
     • Peter Ellis says:

       July 25, 2011 at 9:13 pm

       Compactness (area / extent) is at an all-time low for the time of year.

       Reply
       • stevengoddard says:

         July 25, 2011 at 9:14 pm

         Shirley you must be ready to bet on a record low now.
   • Scott says:

     July 26, 2011 at 12:50 am

     Peter Ellis says:
     July 25, 2011 at 9:13 pm

     Compactness (area / extent) is at an all-time low for the time of year.

     Yes, the compactness for 07/24 is 0.6736, lower than last year’s value, the previous record, by 2.7%. What you fail to mention is that just four days before, on 07/20, this year’s value was 4.0% higher than the previous minimum (2008 for that day) and only one week ago (07/17), 2011 was 8.1% higher than the previous minimum (and 3.1% higher than the 2002-2010 average even). So what does this mean? Well, compactness may indeed be plummeting off a cliff as we see this year’s ice pack melt to nothing. Or it could be a result of the high noise in the area metric during the summer due to surface meltwater ponds. Of course, I fail to see how looking at compactness for the entire Arctic Basin has much meaning when discussing one sea’s ice loss.

     Of interest is that compactness hadn’t been mentioned much. Going back to the start June, we can see that compactness fluctuated around the average (never being more than 2.5% away from it either high or low) until the last week, where is shot as high as 3.9% above it and then down to 5.8% below (note that compactness was above the minimum value, by a much as 9.4%, that entire time until 07/21). Consequently, I’d say the recent changes are more likely just noise rather than a meaningful trend. I could be wrong of course.

     (For the record, I use CT’s area metric and JAXA’s extent metric.)

     -Scott

     Reply
3. Ill wind blowing says:

   July 25, 2011 at 5:23 pm

   “Brilliant. If you read the NSIDC monthly news you would know that Beaufort Sea temps have been below normal.”

   July 18, 2011

   http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2011/071811.html

   “During the first half of July, a high-pressure cell persisted over the northern Beaufort Sea as it did in June, and is linked to the above-average air temperatures over much of the Arctic Ocean., To date in July, air temperatures over the North Pole (at the 925 millibar level, or roughly 1,000 meters or 3,000 feet above the surface) were 6 to 8 degrees Celsius (11 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than normal, while temperatures along the coasts of the Laptev and East Siberian seas were 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average. By contrast, temperatures through the first half of July over the Kara Sea have been 2 to 5 degrees Celsius (4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than average.”

   NSIDC July 6, 2011

   http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2011/070611.html

   “June ice extent was lower than normal in much of the Arctic, but the Kara Sea region had particularly low ice extent. “Ice has also started to break up off the coast of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea. These open water areas absorb the sun’s energy, which will help to further ice melt through the summer.”

   Reply
4. Ill wind blowing says:

   July 25, 2011 at 5:27 pm

   ““Brilliant. If you read the NSIDC monthly news you would know that Beaufort Sea temps have been below normal.”

   July 18, 2011

   http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2011/071811.html

   “During the first half of July, a high-pressure cell persisted over the northern Beaufort Sea as it did in June, and is linked to the above-average air temperatures over much of the Arctic Ocean., To date in July, air temperatures over the North Pole (at the 925 millibar level, or roughly 1,000 meters or 3,000 feet above the surface) were 6 to 8 degrees Celsius (11 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than normal, while temperatures along the coasts of the Laptev and East Siberian seas were 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average. By contrast, temperatures through the first half of July over the Kara Sea have been 2 to 5 degrees Celsius (4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than average.”

   NSIDC July 6, 2011

   nsidc org/arcticseaicenews/2011/070611

   “June ice extent was lower than normal in much of the Arctic, but the Kara Sea region had particularly low ice extent. “Ice has also started to break up off the coast of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea. These open water areas absorb the sun’s energy, which will help to further ice melt through the summer.”

   Reply
   • stevengoddard says:

     July 25, 2011 at 6:35 pm

     Figure 4. This map of air temperature anomalies for June 2011 shows warmer than average temperatures over much of the Arctic Ocean, except in the Greenland and Beaufort seas, where temperatures were near and slightly below normal.

     http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2011/070611.html

     Reply