How Much Ice Melting in Arctic Sea?

Arctic ice extent fell 61% faster than average first half of July

Arctic ice cover declined at a rate of 132,000 km² per day during the first two weeks of July, which was 61% faster than the average, said the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

• The average rate of decline calculated over the period 1981 to 2010 is 82,000 km²/day.

• The fastest ice loss was observed in the Kara sea, where  temperatures were up to 5ºC above average, and East Greenland sea, followed by the Laptev Sea.

• Sea ice retreated slowest on the Pacific side,  especially in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.

• Temperatures over Alaska, Siberia and the Canadian Arctic were up to 5ºC  below average.

The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of July 19, 2013, along with daily ice extent data for 2012, the record low year. 2013 is shown in blue, and 2012 in green. The gray area around the average line shows the two standard deviation range of the data. Sea Ice Index data. Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Arctic sea ice extent for July 19. The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 median extent for that month. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Additional Data

• Arctic sea ice reached its annual maximum extent at 15.13 million km²on March 10, five days later than the 1979 to 2000 average date of March 10.
• The 2013 maximum ice extent was 733,000 km² below the 1979 to 2000, and became the 6th lowest in the satellite record, said NSIDC.
• The lowest maximum extent occurred in 2011; ten lowest maximums have occurred in the last ten years (2004 – 2013).

Related Links

• ‘Surreal’ Melt Season Begins in Arctic Sea March 26, 2013
• Antarctic Flood Forms ‘Ice Crater’ July 2, 2013
• Arctic Sea Ice Extent Could Fall to 3M Km² Sept. 3, 2012

‘Surreal’ Melt Season Begins in Arctic Sea

Arctic Sea ice reaches annual maximum extent at 15.13mkm²

Arctic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for 2013, at 15.13 million square kilometers (5.84 million square miles), the 6th lowest in satellite record, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported.

Arctic sea ice extent on March 15 was 15.13 million square kilometers (5.84 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1979 to 2000 median extent for that day. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole.  —Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The maximum ice extent was 733,000 km² below the 1979 to 2000 average of 15.86 million square kilometers.

• The maximum occurred on March 10, five days later than the 1979 to 2000 average date of March 10.
• The 2013 maximum ice extent was the 6th lowest in the satellite record, said NSIDC.
• The lowest maximum extent occurred in 2011; ten lowest maximums have occurred in the last ten years (2004 – 2013).

Arctic sea ice extent as of March 24, 2013, along with daily ice extent data for the previous five years. 2012 to 2013 is shown in blue, 2011 to 2012 in green, 2010 to 2011 in pink, 2009 to 2010 in navy, and 2008 to 2009 in purple. The 1979 to 2000 average is in dark gray. The gray area around this average line shows the two standard deviation range of the data. —Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Over the 2012 to 2013 winter season, sea ice extent grew a record 11.72 million square kilometers (4.53 million square miles). The record growth was primarily a result of the record low minimum last September, leaving a greater extent of ocean surface uncovered in ice to re-freeze this winter. This seasonal ice gain is 645,000 square kilometers (249,000 square miles) higher than the previous record (2007 to 2008) and 2.63 million square kilometer (1.02 million square miles) higher than the 1979 to 2000 average. Last autumn’s record low and this winter’s record ice growth indicate a more pronounced seasonal cycle in Arctic sea ice and the increasing dominance of first-year ice in the Arctic. —NSIDC

Related Links

• Polar Ice Page [Includes an index of links to Arctic Sea Ice  ]

Arctic Sea Ice: Likely Record-Low Volume

Arctic Sea Ice Down to Second-Lowest Extent; Likely Record-Low Volume – NSIDC

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) says despite cooler temperatures and ice-favoring conditions, long-term decline of Arctic ice cover is continuing.

As previously reported, Arctic sea ice extent for 2008 melt season as measured by satellite was the second-lowest level since 1979, reaching the lowest point on September 14, 2008. Average sea ice extent over the month of September, a standard measure in the scientific study of Arctic sea ice, was 4.67 million square kilometers. The record monthly low was 4.28 million square kilometers set in September 2007.

The 2008 observation strongly reinforces the thirty-year downward trend in Arctic ice extent, NSIDC said. The 2008 low was 34% below the long-term September average for the 1979 to 2000 period and only 9% greater than the 2007 record low. The 2008 low was so far below the average, it forced the negative trend in September extent downward to –11.7 % per decade (from 10.7 %).

A comparison of ice age in September 2007 (left) and September 2008 (right) shows the increase in thin first-year ice (red) and the decline in thick multi-year ice (orange and yellow). White indicates areas of ice below ~50 percent, for which ice age cannot be determined. AVHRR, SMMR SSM/I, and IABP buoy data.
—From National Snow and Ice Data Center courtesy C. Fowler, J. Maslanik, and S. Drobot, University of Colorado at Boulder – High-resolution image

“The trend of decline in the Arctic continues, despite this year’s slightly greater extent of sea ice. The Arctic is more vulnerable than ever.” —NSIDC Lead Scientist Ted Scambos

Related Links:

• Arctic ice cover second-lowest on record
• NSIDC Arctic ice extent animation

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Arctic ice cover second-lowest on record

The extent of Arctic ice is now 10 percent lower than the 1997-2000 period

Arctic sea ice cover shrank to its second-lowest level ever and could set a new low by the and of this year’s melt season. The worst affected area is the Chukchi Sea, home to one of the world’s largest polar bear populations, as well as large oil and gas fields.

Daily Arctic sea ice extent for August 26, 2008, fell below the 2005 minimum, which was 5.32 million square kilometers (2.05 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1979 to 2000 average extent for that day. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. Sea Ice Index data. —Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Arctic sea ice extent has declined 2.06 million sq km since the beginning of August. On August 26 sea ice extent stood at 5.26 million sq km, below the 2005 minimum of 5.32 sq km set on September 21 of that year, the second-lowest extent observed by satellite, said National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado.

In 2007 the ice cover melt to its lowest recorded minimum of 4.12 million sq km opening the the Northwest Passage  for the first time on record.

“No matter where we stand at the end of the melt season it’s just reinforcing this notion that Arctic ice is in its death spiral,” said Mark Serreze, a scientist at NSIDC.

Loss of summer Arctic ice could have far-reaching implications for wildlife, especially the polar bear and walrus, which depend on ice shelves to hunt for food.

With more Arctic ice melting, the bears have to swim farther to find suitable ice shelves for hunting. The longer they swim in open waters, despite being capable swimmers, the more likely they get into trouble. A number of bears are known to have been drowned in the recent years.

A polar bear is seen in the water during an aerial survey off the Alaska coast in this photo taken August 15, 2008. Arctic sea ice shrank to its second-lowest level ever, U.S. scientists said on Wednesday, with particular melting in the Chukchi Sea, where at least 12 polar bears were recently seen swimming far off the Alaskan coast. REUTERS/Geoff York/World Wildlife Fund/Handout.

Interestingly, the state of Alaska is suing the federal government because it says listing polar bears as a threatened species is hurting Alaskan oil and gas exploration and development, commercial fisheries, transportation and tourism. In other words, the polar bears had no right to be there!

“We believe that … decision to list the polar bear was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available,” said Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Will 2008 also break the standing record low set in 2007? We will know soon—there are still a few weeks left to the end of melt season!

Related Links:

• 3 million acres of spruce killed in Alaska in 15 years
• Hilarious Polar Bear News!
• Drunken Forest

• Arctic Marine Mammals on Thin Ice
• Bering Sea Drilling
• The right to disturb wildlife!!

• Palin’s Polar Pests Love Their Cubs, Too!

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