It's been a while since I updated on the ice condition. Late winter tends to be quietest time of year, with just slow growth round the edges of the ice pack and the wind pushing the ice around a bit as sun slowly peeks over the horizon. The last couple of weeks have been like that, with high pressure and temperatures that were nearly normal for the winter. Extent even briefly dropped to third lowest for the date, but is now back to lowest where it has spent most of the year so far. Wind has been significant, as winter storms have pushed a lot of the remaining multiyear ice out of the Fram strait and into warm waters where it will rapidly melt out. Normally the north of Greenland is one solid block and immune to this in winter, but this year it has remained fractured even here and has been pushed south, being replaced with new ice which will only be a few months old come the summer.
The winter maximum extent can occur at any time March, and is really a matter of the weather than the state of the ice overall. There is a good chance that this maximum will be a record low, and may even have already passed. Ice volume is at record low by a comfortable margin.
Antarctic ice remains at record lows as it has been all year. The minimum extent fell to smidge over 2M sq Km, and id still there, two weeks after the refreeze usually starts.
Ice shelves keep breaking off large icebergs. The one with the British research base on it is about to calve a berg one third the size of Wales.
Arctic Ice Watch
Moderator: Peak Moderation
The minimum this year is 10% below the previous record minimum apparently:PS_RalphW wrote:Antarctic ice remains at record lows as it has been all year. The minimum extent fell to smidge over 2M sq Km, and id still there, two weeks after the refreeze usually starts.
Ice shelves keep breaking off large icebergs. The one with the British research base on it is about to calve a berg one third the size of Wales.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/clima ... umt5r.html
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The status on the Canadian side of Greenland.
http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/prods/WIS55S ... 328528.pdf
http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/prods/WIS55S ... 328528.pdf
With warmer air returning to the arctic it seems we have passed the winter maximum extent, at a record low of just under 14 M sq miles.
The antarctic ice extent remains at record lows, and the increased open water over the summer has heated the water and is delaying the start of refreeze significantly for the first time. This effect has been seen for several years in the arctic already.
We may be seeing the beginning of significant sea ice melt in the antarctic as well.
The antarctic ice extent remains at record lows, and the increased open water over the summer has heated the water and is delaying the start of refreeze significantly for the first time. This effect has been seen for several years in the arctic already.
We may be seeing the beginning of significant sea ice melt in the antarctic as well.
Is it really 2 years since I posted on this thread?
The last two seasons ( 17 and 18) were middling for arctic ice melt by recent standards as weather conditions did not match the worst imaginable combination that lead to the dramatic ice melt in 2012. However, average temperatures have continued to rise and it is only a matter of time before a new record low is set.
That year could be this year. The weather patterns have lead to extreme heat in Alaska and the pacific side of the arctic. High pressure has resulted in a strong Beaufort gyre, rotating ice out of the central arctic and into the warm, sunny waters of the Beaufort Sea to face rapid melting. The Northern Russian sea route looks likely to be open in the next few days, 3 weeks earlier than the previous record, and the same high pressure is pushing the remaining thicker ice south on the Atlantic side and through the Fram strait to melt in the Atlantic.
Sea ice area, extent and volume are all at record lows for the day, but a lot of ice in peripheral seas such as Hudson Bay still remains, and this will inevitably melt fast pushing the figures further into record territory.
Meanwhile in the Antarctic there has been dramatic reduction in sea ice the last 3 years as warmer waters finally started melting the ice from below faster than fresh water run-off from melting glaciers could freeze above.
We are now at record lows for the day in global sea ice figures as well.
In 2012 a massive August storm churned up the remaining ice into warmer waters accelerating the season to its record melt. This year a new record may be set without this rare weather event.
The last two seasons ( 17 and 18) were middling for arctic ice melt by recent standards as weather conditions did not match the worst imaginable combination that lead to the dramatic ice melt in 2012. However, average temperatures have continued to rise and it is only a matter of time before a new record low is set.
That year could be this year. The weather patterns have lead to extreme heat in Alaska and the pacific side of the arctic. High pressure has resulted in a strong Beaufort gyre, rotating ice out of the central arctic and into the warm, sunny waters of the Beaufort Sea to face rapid melting. The Northern Russian sea route looks likely to be open in the next few days, 3 weeks earlier than the previous record, and the same high pressure is pushing the remaining thicker ice south on the Atlantic side and through the Fram strait to melt in the Atlantic.
Sea ice area, extent and volume are all at record lows for the day, but a lot of ice in peripheral seas such as Hudson Bay still remains, and this will inevitably melt fast pushing the figures further into record territory.
Meanwhile in the Antarctic there has been dramatic reduction in sea ice the last 3 years as warmer waters finally started melting the ice from below faster than fresh water run-off from melting glaciers could freeze above.
We are now at record lows for the day in global sea ice figures as well.
In 2012 a massive August storm churned up the remaining ice into warmer waters accelerating the season to its record melt. This year a new record may be set without this rare weather event.