- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Arctic ice at second-lowest level ever


Arctic ice at second-lowest level ever
New satellite measurements show that crucial sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has plummeted to its second-lowest level on record. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, announced Wednesday that the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is down to 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point on record is 1.65 million square miles set last September. With about three weeks left in the melt season, the record may fall, scientists say. Arctic ice always melts in summer and refreezes in winter. But over the years, more and more of the ice is lost to the sea and not recovered in winter. That's important because the Arctic acts as a refrigerator for the globe.

The next 3 weeks will be crucial.

4 Comments:

At 28/8/08 7:31 am, Anonymous Anonymous said...

In other news -

Arctic ice levels are almost 25% higher than last year.

They presently sit at 2.03 million square miles compared to 1.65 million square miles last year.

There ya Bo ber, fixed that for you.

more and more of the ice is lost to the sea and not recovered in winter

Man, that dudes credibility is slip sliding away, ain't it?

As I've linked to here before - Last winters ice cover was 20 - 30% higher than 2006 winter according to NASA sat photos.

 
At 28/8/08 11:41 am, Blogger Gareth said...

Here's what the National Snow & Ice Data Centre have to say, without the CNN filter. And to compare to earlier years, try this chart (of a slightly different metric).

It appears some people have trouble facing facts...

 
At 28/8/08 5:48 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said...

They're very nice charts gareth.

Colorful, well set out etc......

...however, they're not satellite photos from NASA showing that the ice cover in the winter of 2007 increased over 20% when compared to 2006.

Facts are facts, no matter how they disagree with your opinion on GW.

 
At 30/8/08 11:16 am, Blogger Gareth said...

And you seem unable to appreciate what the facts are telling you. From the State of the Canadian Cryosphere site:

As of March 22, 2008 Environment Canada analysis indicates sea ice cover over the Northern Hemisphere has reached its maximum extent and is about 3% above maximum extent reached over the last 3 years. Much of the thick multi-year ice in the central Arctic Ocean has been depleted and replaced with thinner first year ice. The amplitude of the 2007 summer minimum extent to the 2008 winter maximum extent is dramatically higher than in previous years.

That's three percent, not twenty. You don't get to pick and choose facts, you know, you have to live with them all, however inconvenient they might be to your world view.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home