In 1988, there was a lot of 5+ year old ice in the Arctic. Thick, old ice like that can’t melt during the summer, but it can disappear during the winter due to wind blowing it out into the warm waters of the North Atlantic.
That is exactly what happened, as most of the older ice was lost during the winters of 1988-1996.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIuHBPjElHI&feature=player_embedded]
31 Aug 2008
The North Pole has become an island for the first time in human history as climate change has made it possible to circumnavigate the Arctic ice cap.
The historic development was revealed by satellite images taken last week showing that both the north-west and north-east passages have been opened by melting ice.
Prof Mark Serreze, a sea ice specialist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in the US said the images suggested the Arctic may have entered a “death spiral” caused by global warming.
Shipping companies are already planning to exploit the first simultaneous opening of the routes since the beginning of the last Ice Age 125,000 years ago. The Beluga Group in Germany says it will send the first ship through the north-east passage, around Russia, next year, cutting 4,000 miles off the voyage from Germany to Japan.
Meier
July 14, 2010
“Examination of several proxy records (e.g., sediment cores) of sea ice indicate ice-free or near ice-free summer conditions for at least some time during the period of 15,000 to 5,000 years ago”
The stupidity and ignorance of alarmists seems to know no bounds.
Global warming: Sea levels could rise for centuries to come
Strong warning on climate threshold from University of Arizona researchers
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — Ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic will probably keep melting, and sea levels will keep rising for a long time — even if greenhouse gas emissions are curbed in the near future, according to a University of Arizona-led team of researchers who studied the history of rising sea levels during the last interglacial period.
During interglacials, sea level rises. Chicago is no longer buried under a mile of ice. Can I have my grant money?
http://www.globalwarmingart.com/wiki/File:Post-Glacial_Sea_Level_png
On about July 10, 2007, the East Siberian Sea started losing ice very rapidly, and continued until mid-September. Thus the 2007 low. We are not seeing a repeat of this in 2011, as air temperatures in that region have been running cold and are forecast to remain that way.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNUrWvJOTeI]
July 18, 2007 showed about the same ice extent as the same date in 2011, but this was due to doomed ice on the Atlantic side of the Arctic (red.) In 2007, the ice on the Pacific side had already started disappearing very fast (green.)
This is why alarmists are probably going to be disappointed by what happens to the extent graphs over the next few weeks. The red area will almost disappear, and the green area will get larger.
