NUNATSIAQ NEWS: Climate Change September 20, 2017 - 1:10 pm
Arctic sea ice shows 8th lowest minimum extent since 1978
Arctic ice cover this year was 1.58 million square kilometres lower than 1981-2010 average minimum extent.
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Arctic sea ice extent for September 13 was 4.64 million square kilometres the eighth lowest in the satellite record. The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. (IMAGE COURTESY OF THE NSIDC)
This year’s annual Arctic Ocean ice melt was not a record-breaker, but the end-of-summer Arctic sea ice extent still came in as the eighth lowest in the past 38 years, two respected U.S. agencies said Sept. 19.
Arctic sea ice appeared to have reached its yearly lowest extent on Sept. 13, NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder have reported.
Their satellite data showed that, at 4.64 million square kilometres, the 2017 Arctic sea ice minimum extent stands as the eighth lowest since the start of the satellite record in 1978.
They define ice extent as areas with at least 15 per cent ice coverage.
This year’s temperatures in the Arctic may have played a role in keeping the ice extent higher than in other recent years.
Temperatures have been relatively mild for such high latitudes, but remained cooler than average in some regions, NASA said.
Still, the 2017 minimum sea ice extent fell 1.58 million square kilometres lower than the 1981-2010 average minimum extent.
“How much ice is left at the end of summer in any given year depends on both the state of the ice cover earlier in the year and the weather conditions affecting the ice,” said Claire Parkinson, senior climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in a release on the sea ice minimum.
He said weather conditions had not been “particularly noteworthy this summer.”
(https://weather.com/news/weather/news/arctic-temperatures-above-average-atlantic-storm-early-february-2017)
(http://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/09/strong-cme-arrival-today-gps-likely.html)
But overall the planet was warm: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said 2017 has been the second warmest year to date, with the third warmest August on record.
(FYI: The sun delivers more energy in one hour to the surface of earth than all energy sources mankind consumes in one year. Thats an 8000:1 ratio favoring the sun as the principal "climate" forcing. What activity does man do that exceeds 8000 times the energy of the sun? Man cannot be responsible for nor control earth's "climate!". If you thibk otherwise - show me the numbers. I'm open to consider it.)
In September, the Norwegian Polar explorer Roald Amundsen’s Northwest Passage route had up to 50 percent ice cover in some places, but ships—including the Tandberg Polar bringing Amundsen’s Maud back to Norway, have successfully navigated through the southern route with icebreaker assistance.
(https://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/09/arctic-2017-cold-has-ship-traffic-in-nw.html)
The northern Northwest Passage route, entered from the west via McClure Strait, remains choked by consolidated, thick, multi-year ice, NASA and the NSIDC said.
Here you can see the daily Arctic sea ice and seasonal land cover change progress through time, from this year’s wintertime maximum extent on March 7 through Sept. 13 when the sea ice reached its annual minimum extent for the year. Over the water, Arctic sea ice changes from day to day.
SIDEBAR
(https://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/08/free-software-to-look-at-us-climate.html)
THE FLIP SIDE OF THE "CLIMATE" DEBATE NOT TOLD BY SELF-SERVING NASA, NSIDC AND THE NEWS MEDIA...
Arctic sea ice shows 8th lowest minimum extent since 1978
Arctic ice cover this year was 1.58 million square kilometres lower than 1981-2010 average minimum extent.
NUNATSIAQ NEWS
Arctic sea ice extent for September 13 was 4.64 million square kilometres the eighth lowest in the satellite record. The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. (IMAGE COURTESY OF THE NSIDC)This year’s annual Arctic Ocean ice melt was not a record-breaker, but the end-of-summer Arctic sea ice extent still came in as the eighth lowest in the past 38 years, two respected U.S. agencies said Sept. 19.
Arctic sea ice appeared to have reached its yearly lowest extent on Sept. 13, NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder have reported.
Their satellite data showed that, at 4.64 million square kilometres, the 2017 Arctic sea ice minimum extent stands as the eighth lowest since the start of the satellite record in 1978.
They define ice extent as areas with at least 15 per cent ice coverage.
This year’s temperatures in the Arctic may have played a role in keeping the ice extent higher than in other recent years.
Temperatures have been relatively mild for such high latitudes, but remained cooler than average in some regions, NASA said.
Still, the 2017 minimum sea ice extent fell 1.58 million square kilometres lower than the 1981-2010 average minimum extent.
“How much ice is left at the end of summer in any given year depends on both the state of the ice cover earlier in the year and the weather conditions affecting the ice,” said Claire Parkinson, senior climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in a release on the sea ice minimum.
He said weather conditions had not been “particularly noteworthy this summer.”
(https://weather.com/news/weather/news/arctic-temperatures-above-average-atlantic-storm-early-february-2017)
(http://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/09/strong-cme-arrival-today-gps-likely.html)
But overall the planet was warm: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said 2017 has been the second warmest year to date, with the third warmest August on record.
(FYI: The sun delivers more energy in one hour to the surface of earth than all energy sources mankind consumes in one year. Thats an 8000:1 ratio favoring the sun as the principal "climate" forcing. What activity does man do that exceeds 8000 times the energy of the sun? Man cannot be responsible for nor control earth's "climate!". If you thibk otherwise - show me the numbers. I'm open to consider it.)
In September, the Norwegian Polar explorer Roald Amundsen’s Northwest Passage route had up to 50 percent ice cover in some places, but ships—including the Tandberg Polar bringing Amundsen’s Maud back to Norway, have successfully navigated through the southern route with icebreaker assistance.
(https://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/09/arctic-2017-cold-has-ship-traffic-in-nw.html)
The northern Northwest Passage route, entered from the west via McClure Strait, remains choked by consolidated, thick, multi-year ice, NASA and the NSIDC said.
Here you can see the daily Arctic sea ice and seasonal land cover change progress through time, from this year’s wintertime maximum extent on March 7 through Sept. 13 when the sea ice reached its annual minimum extent for the year. Over the water, Arctic sea ice changes from day to day.
SIDEBAR
NSIDC concurs here
(https://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/08/what-do-we-know-about-arctic-sea-ice.html)
(https://arcticnorthwestpassage.blogspot.com/2017/08/free-software-to-look-at-us-climate.html)
THE FLIP SIDE OF THE "CLIMATE" DEBATE NOT TOLD BY SELF-SERVING NASA, NSIDC AND THE NEWS MEDIA...