Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thanks for the charts. So it looks like its thinner than recent years but thicker than previous years mostly before 2007 is I'm reading that right.
The ice and especially the multi-year ice took a big hit in 2007 but has since recovered quite a bit, in areas of thickness and the persistence of the ice. It took a hit in 2012 as well, but although 2012's extent was lower than 2007's, the ice was more concentrated around the pole in 2012, as opposed to being spread out like 2007.
Meanwhile, I'll post some data and maps from the NSIDC. The Arctic sea ice is below normal, but as you can see in this map it is within normal parameters, i.e. there are some parts near average, others below, and others above, with more below average regions than near or above average regions. Still, there's nothing out of the ordinary here:
And as you can see in this chart, the sea ice maximum has made a relatively great recovery from 2012's minimum extent. I don't know what it is about the sea ice maximums vs. the minimums, but so far this decade it seems the sea ice really "wants" to increase its winter maximum extent, whereas the minimum extent isn't plummeting but still remains at low levels.
It will be interesting to see what happens during this melt season. Will we see a repeat of 2012's extreme melt season? Will it be closer to 2009, 2010, and 2011's melt seasons? Or will it surprise us and be more resilient than it has been in many years?
The ice and especially the multi-year ice took a big hit in 2007 but has since recovered quite a bit, in areas of thickness and the persistence of the ice. It took a hit in 2012 as well, but although 2012's extent was lower than 2007's, the ice was more concentrated around the pole in 2012, as opposed to being spread out like 2007.
No, the thickness is as low as it's ever been. Big errors since it's based off of PIOMASS data, though recent satellite data seemed to agree with it (posted about that earlier, maybe a page or two back):
Meanwhile, I'll post some data and maps from the NSIDC. The Arctic sea ice is below normal, but as you can see in this map it is within normal parameters, i.e. there are some parts near average, others below, and others above, with more below average regions than near or above average regions. Still, there's nothing out of the ordinary here:
While it doesn't look out of the ordinary or a particularly drastic change, the max is still nearly 2 standard deviation below the 1979-2000 max. But the deviation is low, so it doesn't make much obvious difference.
Quote:
And as you can see in this chart, the sea ice maximum has made a relatively great recovery from 2012's minimum extent. I don't know what it is about the sea ice maximums vs. the minimums, but so far this decade it seems the sea ice really "wants" to increase its winter maximum extent, whereas the minimum extent isn't plummeting but still remains at low levels.
I found this explanation convincing:
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
Geography might be the best explanation for the small winter change relative to the large summer change. This article and the associated images I found rather convincing:
During summertime, arctic sea ice has retreated to such high latitudes that it’s almost entirely in open ocean. In that case a small move south, i.e. a small change in its latitude extent, corresponds to a large increase in ice area or extent. As ice grows in autumn and winter, of course it extends further and further south. But it soon extends to latitudes where there can’t possibly be very much sea ice, simply because there’s not that much sea — the arctic ocean is surrounded by land.
By the looks of that the nearest ice to me is Greenland.
It looks like the nearest sea ice is just to the east of Denmark, kinda neat to see the European cold March reflected in the map. I wonder if the relative lack of sea ice off of Labrador and Newfoundland is from the same AO pattern creating unusual warmth. I read somewhere that Great Lakes ice is sometimes added into the sea ice extent depending on whose counting. Doesn't look there is any right now, but it does occur occasionally in the depths of winter.
Well that ice is actually about 700 miles away and the ice in Greenland is 900 miles away so not much difference. I would bet that the Denmark ice will be gone soon.
Someone reconstructed a satellite sea ice map from 1964. That year Antarctic sea ice was greater than anything previously on record (which only go back to the late 1970s) and Arctic sea ice was similar to the average of the last three decades.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
