The 2008 Melt Season Begins

Arctic sea ice coverage reaches its annual maximum in March, and then begins to shrink, reaching its annual minimum in September.  We're just past the 2008 peak now.  Here's how things are going so far this year:

The ice is more extensive than last year, but still below normal. And it's younger:

One year old ice is thin, and can melt fast.  This year more of the ice cap going into the summer melting season is first year ice than last summer, and at the end of last summer Arctic ice coverage reached a record low.

Parenthetically, look at how all the thick, multiyear ice is crammed up against the outlets of the straits running between Canada's northern islands.  I assume this will play hob with Northwest Passage navigation.  It blocks several routes and may work its way into the straits in the summer melt.  Russia's Northern Route appears to be largely free of this.

So, more ice coverage than last year, but thinner ice.  Will we break last year's record September coverage minimum?  The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center will be following the ice melt over the summer and providing status reports on their web site: Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis.  Here's the status of the ice cover today:

All figures from the National Snow and Ice website. 

Comments

[911allo]

When I compare the pictures March-2007 and March 2008 I think that there was a huge net loss of ice VOLUME.

When one tries to get data and pictures about REALITY about polar ice I only notice that :
- graphics are either "normalized" to some time span
- the graphics NEVER show all the years where available data exists
- graphics never show the VOLUME of ice (because this is the best estimate and it is the most freaking point of view)
- colors being use don't make any sense. Blue for 1 year old ice and white for "OW" (open water is not even spelled) instead of blue for water and white for ice.
- clicking on a picture to enlarge it is S L O W
- I get blue screens CRASH often with US sites specializing in this subject.
- Canada does not publish anything usefull, it links to it's MASTER the USA who lie for them.
- Harper is selling Canada to the USA, sends us to war without publishing our opinion about this war. He is doing every move possible to relinquish OUR North waters: 200 miles away from our lands and islands and NEVER opposes the macho US.

In Canada water is blue and ice is white. Changing these colors on your maps is a signed proof that the USA are lying.

I challenge non lying scientists to show us unormalized RAW data spanning as long as possible (even estimates in dotted form) about surface AND VOLUME.

Then print your estimate about in which year there won't be ANY ice in the summer and sign your name.

As far as I know many expect no ice in Sept 2008, more expect 2009 and max should be 2010.

Canada does not want US war boats close to our lands. Neither boats that do help war including tankers.

We consider the USA government as a crazy Zionist controlled killer.

[r4 sdhc]

"Sea ice motion also helps determine how the ice will fare each melt season. In 2007, a strong northward sea ice motion at the end of the melt season pushed ice floes together, compacting the ice. The tightly packed ice and high temperatures worked together to create a record-low extent.

This year, the wind patterns were different, leading to a less compacted ice cover. This, paired with slower summer melt, helped keep the overall extent larger."