NSIDC Update - Arctic Sea Ice Loses Area Larger Than New Mexico In 5 Days

hatrack

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Wed Aug-22-07 12:17 PM
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NSIDC Update - Arctic Sea Ice Loses Area Larger Than New Mexico In 5 Days

22 August 2007
Overview of current sea ice conditions - Sea ice extent continues to decline; it is currently tracking at 4.92 million square kilometers (1.89 million square miles), below the 2005 record absolute minimum of 5.32 million square kilometers (2.05 million square miles).

Current sea ice conditions in context

Figure 2 is the updated time series of daily sea ice extent for 2007, 2005, and the 1979 to 2000 average. As mentioned above, sea ice extent on August 21 was 4.92 million square kilometers (1.89 million square miles). Compared to conditions cited in our August 17 update, we have lost an additional 340,000 square kilometers (131,000 square miles) of ice, an area larger than the the state of New Mexico. Ice extent is now well below the previous lowest absolute minimum extent of 5.32 million square kilometers (2.05 million square miles) recorded on September 20�21 of 2005, and there is likely several weeks of further melt ahead of us.

The opening of the Northwest Passage

Of particular note is imminent opening of the fabled Northwest Passage through the channels of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was first navigated by Roald Amundsen in the early 1900s. It took his group over two years of arduous and dangerous navigation through narrow lanes of open water amongst thick, compact ice. Analysts at the Canadian Ice Service and the U.S. National Ice Center confirm that the passage is almost completely clear and that the region is more open than it has ever been since the advent of routine monitoring in 1972. The Northwest Passage traces from Baffin Bay in the South toward M'Clure Strait.

A high-resolution look at sea ice

Figure 3 is based on high-resolution satellite data. We have zoomed in on an area of sea ice to show some of the unusual conditions that this year has brought. Note the immense chunks of sea ice (ice floes), some of them with melt ponds, visible as blue flecks on the ice. Normally, this region is a consolidated ice pack rather than individual floes. The ice edge has pulled back much further than normal from the coast.

EDIT

http://nsidc.org/news/press/2007_seaiceminimum/20070810_index.html

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phantom power

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Wed Aug-22-07 12:25 PM
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1. Buh bye

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n2doc

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Wed Aug-22-07 12:26 PM
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2. We're going to end up below 4 mil sq klicks by mid september

Less than a third of the wintertime coverage. I am beginning to think that we will see a complete breakup of the ice pack by 2010-2012. Unless the Gulf Stream slows enough to cause a temporary cooling.

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