In the spirit of Johnny Rook (R.I.P.), I've been doing a series of irregular diaries on the state of the Arctic since last summer. This diary is another in that series.
You may recall that I used to post a picture from a "North Pole" camera placed by NOAA to document the sea ice melt season. The camera actually drifts with the ice over the season, and usually winds up well south of the North Pole. Well, that camera has only been working intermittently, though today there is a picture from the camera, such as it is:
More about the data from the camera location below the fold.
The temperature reported of +3.5°C on the picture is an "internal" temperature, presumably of the air inside of the camera casing. The picture shows that the snow cover intact to date.
There's a wealth of data collected along with the camera pix, and there's been NO disruption of transmission of these data (this link goes to a table of the data from julian day 102 (12 April) through julian day 159 (8 June)). It's been awhile since data has been added to this; at the last available time, temperature was about -2°C. At the same time, snow depth according to the "pinger" (radar pointed down to determine snow and ice thickness) is 1.4m; depth of the ice is 2.5m.
Position of the camera to date, as it drifts in the Arctic Ocean:
Current Condition of N Hemisphere Sea Ice
The data presented here are through 27 June. Previous diaries talked about a data problem resulting from intermittent failure of the satellite sensing the ice cover, and how it was resolved by merging its data with those from a new satellite that had been launched previously.
A time series of N Hemisphere sea ice extent (sea ice coverage of 15% or more) is shown below. The 1979-2000 mean is bold solid gray, the 2007 record minimum melt season is dashed green, and the current season is solid blue.
The current melt season is, after a slow start, paralleling the record melt season of 2007, lagging by but a few days. In 2007, however, extraordinarily rapid ice loss occurred in July which more likely than not1 won't be matched this season. A combination of winds that anomalously push the ice toward the North Pole and push the ice out of the Arctic Ocean through the strait between Greenland and Novaya Zemlya (Barents Sea, h.t. Radarlady); and/or anomalously high temperatures where the ice is young and thin, could duplicate the record minimum sea ice extent of September 2007.
Now for the area map of sea ice concentration:
On the left is the North American projection of sea ice concentration and on the right is the north pole projection. Note the Davis Strait (between Greenland and Canada) is almost completely ice free, and that sea ice concentrations around Alaska in the Arctic Ocean are declining. On the right, a large area north of Europe to Siberia is ice free (a consequence of the Gulf Stream advecting warm water into this area in its form as the North Atlantic Drift).
These additional graphics have a slightly different projection from the one above on the right. On the left below is the sea ice concentration on the same date last year, and on the right is the sea ice concentration from the same date in 2007 (the record melt season). Information on the record sea ice minimum and its origins in anomalous atmospheric forcing mechanisms can be found here and here.
Here's a reprise of the current state of sea ice concentration, but with some annotations. There are some eerie similarities to 2007, but the caveat regarding the required anomalous conditions to get us to the record minimum outlined above still apply.
I'll continue to monitor the situation in the Arctic on a weekly basis until the melt season is done in September. A monthly report from the National Snow and Ice Data Center will be issued at the end of the week this week; I'll include a summary of that report in the next diary next time as well.
Notes:
1I only say this because the likelihood of what has historically been an extreme event is small by its very nature. Whether the historical record has referential meaning in the context of global warming is questionable.
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Schedule for DK GreenRoots week.
All listed times are PDT.
Sunday June 28:
11 am: Mr. President, go and see for yourself by Devilstower
3 pm: Kermit was right, it ain't easy by jillian
7 pm: Obama Wants Green Bottom-Up Politics by Patriot Daily
Sunday Series:
Overnight News Digest (Science Saturday) by Neon Vincent;Sunday Talk by Silly Rabbit aka Trix;Free Food Foraging by Wide Eyed Lib, How Regulation Came to Be: Donora by dsteffen; The Week in Editorial Cartoons: The Crying Game by JekyllnHyde; Overnight News Digest - Ole Man River and the Big Muddy by Oke
Monday June 29:
2am: Now it’s "Cleaner" Coal? by Zwoof
11 am: billlaurelMD
3 pm: jeremybloom
7 pm: Jeff Biggers
Monday Series:
Science Tidbits by possum; Meatless Monday by beach babe in fl; Labor Diary Rescue by djtyg, Got a Happy Story? by Eddie C); Overnight News Digest by jlms qkw
Tuesday June 30:
11 am: LaughingPlanet
3 pm: Got a Grip
7 pm: Magnifico
Tuesday Series:
Cheers & Jeers by BiPM; Healthy Minds & Bodies by RLMiller; The Left Wing by Texas Revolutionary; Top Comments by Elise; Overnight News Digest by wader
Wednesday July 1:
5am: A Siegel
noon: FishOutofWater
3 pm: Asinus Asinum Fricat
7 pm: Mark H
Wednesday Series:
Bookflurries: Bookchat by cfk; Siglines! by Wee Mama; Books by Kossacks by sarahnity
Thursday July 2:
11 am: Muskegon Critic
3 pm: Bruce Nilles
7 pm: Jill Richardson
Thursday Series:
Morning Feature by NCrissieB; Labor Diary Rescue by djtyg, Considered Forthwith by Casual Wednesday; Thursday Night Health Care by TBA (contact: TheFatLadySings); Top Comments by Elise; Write On! by SensibleShoes; Overnight News Digest by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
Friday July 3:
11 am: Meteor Blades
3 pm: TXsharon
7 pm: Land of Enchantment
Friday Series:
Morning Feature by NCrissieB; Mojo Friday by TexDem or rbutters (TBA); Frugal Fridays by sarahnity; Friday Night at the Movies by Land of Enchantment; Top Comments by noweasels; Overnight News Digest by Oke
Saturday July 4:
11 am: Jerome a Paris
3 pm: buhdydharma
7 pm: Stranded Wind
Saturday Series:
Morning Feature by NCrissieB; Dawn Chorus Birdblog by lineatus; Saturday Morning Garden Blogging by Frankenoid; Saturday Morning Home Repair Blogging by boatgeek; Top Comments by carolita
Plus there'll be music on environmental themes in jotter's High Impact Diaries every morning, along with schedule updates. Additional diaries will be filled in from amongst the following: faithfull, The Cunctator, and Turkana. And we’ll make more slots as needed - anyone who has an environmentally-related story they want to post this week, we’ll create a place on the schedule for you.