FIRE-EARTH Alert: North Pole at Near 0ºC

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• EAC
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Another Record-Breaking Heatwave to Raise North Pole Temperature by 20ºC

[Prepared by FIRE-EARTH Science Team]

• Details are available from FIRE-EARTH PULSARS.

Alaska Declares State Disaster for Interior

Four Storm Systems Devastated Western and Interior Alaska

Governor Sean Parnell has declared a state disaster for Interior Alaska. The governor amended his disaster declaration for the western Alaska villages to include the Fairbanks North Star Borough, according to a press release posted on the state website.

“I commend residents for taking care of their neighbors and helping those who were hardest hit by the storm,” he said.

The same storm systems that devastated western Alaska villages went on to cause widespread damage in Interior Alaska. All told, the four storms that moved through the region blew down trees, cutting power to as many as 16,000 residents at the height of the storm.

“All of our state assets have been standing by to assist the borough, and we have maintained communication through the state emergency operations center during the event,” Governor Parnell continued. “The purpose of this disaster declaration is to ensure the borough has access to recovery grants in order to speed up the process.”

Golden Valley Electric Association has coordinated with all available linemen from across the state to repair downed power lines as quickly as possible. Crews have been working around the clock since the storm subsided this weekend.

Parnell made the announcement after meeting with residents in the Northwest Arctic Borough, Bering Straits Regional Education Attendance Area, and Lower Yukon, as well as the mayors  of FNSB, North Pole and Fairbanks.

Four major storm systems battered the state earlier this month with powerful winds, strong seas and freezing rain and snow, said a report.

The governor’s office says that the declaration opens access to state disaster relief funds to repair infrastructure and some homes.

Related Links

• Major Storms Threaten Alaska  November 13, 2013
• Southern U.S. Freezes Over! November 12, 2013

Feeling Cold?

AO Blowing Arctic Ice at YOU

Arctic Sea:  Lowest extent ever recorded for January

Arctic oscillation persisted in a strong negative phase for most of January, keeping the Arctic ice extent low, NSIDC said.

Arctic sea ice keeps the polar regions cool and moderates global climate by reflecting sunlight back into space. “Arctic sea ice has declined dramatically over at least the past thirty years, with the most extreme decline occurring  in the summer melt season.”

Sea Ice Extent for January 2011 declined to 13.55 million square kilometers (5.23 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1979 to 2000 median extent for the month. The black cross marks the geographic North Pole.

Highlight of NSIDC Report

• January air temperatures over Arctic rose by 2 to 6 degrees Celsius (4 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal.
• Over the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Baffin Bay/Davis Strait and Labrador Sea, temperatures rose by at least 6 degrees Celsius (11 degrees Fahrenheit) above average.
  
• “As in December 2010, the warm temperatures in January came from two sources: unfrozen areas of the ocean continued to release heat to the atmosphere, and the wind patterns accompanying the negative phase of the Arctic oscillation brought warm air into the Arctic.
• “Near the end of January the negative Arctic oscillation pattern broke down and turned positive, which usually favors ice growth. It is unclear how long it will remain in a positive mode.”

• January 2011 saw the lowest ice extent for the month since satellite records began 31 years ago. The linear rate of decline for the month is –3.3% per decade.

• Arctic ice extent increased at an average of 42,800 square kilometers (16,500 square miles) per day in January, which is about average.

Source: The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Click images to enlarge.

• Click here for the daily update.

Orange line in the top image and gray line in time series (above) indicate 1979 to 2000 average ice extent for the day shown.
Credit: NSIDC. Click image to enlarge.

Monthly January ice extent for 1979 to 2011 indicated a decline of 3.3% per decade. Source: NSIDC. Click image to enlarge.

Negative AO in December 2010 and January 2011,Keeping NH Ice Cold

The average Arctic sea ice concentration for January 2011, processed by AMSR-E aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. The red line shows the average sea ice extent recorded for the month of January from 1979 to 2000. Source: NASA-EO

Overview of conditions

Arctic sea ice extent averaged over January 2011 was 13.55 million square kilometers (5.23 million square miles). This was the lowest January ice extent recorded since satellite records began in 1979. It was 50,000 square kilometers (19,300 square miles) below the record low of 13.60 million square kilometers (5.25 million square miles), set in 2006, and 1.27 million square kilometers (490,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average.

Ice extent in January 2011 remained unusually low in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait (between southern Baffin Island and Labrador), and Davis Strait (between Baffin Island and Greenland). Normally, these areas freeze over by late November, but this year Hudson Bay did not completely freeze over until mid-January. The Labrador Sea remains largely ice-free. Source (NSIDC)

Any links with mid-latitude weather?

High and low atmospheric pressure patterns for January 2011 (left) and the January 1968-1996 average (right). Yellows and reds show higher pressures; blues and purples indicate lower pressures, as indicated by the height of the 850 millibar pressure level above the surface, called the pressure surface. Normally, the pressure surface is nearer to the surface around the pole, winds follow the pressure contours around the pole (the polar vortex), and cold air is trapped in the Arctic. This year, the pressure surface is allowing cold air to spill out of the Arctic into the mid-latitudes. Source: NSIDC courtesy NOAA/ESRL PSD

AO in Strong Negative Phase

Warm conditions in the Arctic and cold conditions in northern Europe and the U.S. are linked to the strong negative mode of the Arctic oscillation. Cold air is denser than warmer air, so it sits closer to the surface. Around the North Pole, this dense cold air causes a circular wind pattern called the polar vortex , which helps keep cold air trapped near the poles. When sea ice has not formed during autumn and winter, heat from the ocean escapes and warms the atmosphere. This may weaken the polar vortex and allow air to spill out of the Arctic and into mid-latitude regions in some years, bringing potentially cold winter weather to lower latitudes. Source (NSIDC)

Related Links:

• Latest US Snowstorm Exits, ‘Two More’ Arriving
• Recall Nature’s Extreme Dislikes?
• MEGA WHITEOUT COVERS THE U-S

• Mega Snowstorm Affects 1/3 of U-S Population
• Massive Midwest Blizzard Batters a 2,100-mile Stretch

• Another Nor’easter Dumps a Foot of Snow on the East Coast
• Arctic cold hits New England
• Latest of East Coast Snowstorms
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• Western U-S Blasted by Fierce Storm, 2 ft of Snow
• Blizzard Dumps 2 Feet of Snow in NYC
• Winter Storms Hit the U-S
• U-S Snowstorm Headlines
• Deadly Snowstorms Hit North America
• Transitory Impact of AO is the ‘Good News’
• Arctic Blast Hits Britain Again
• Europe Freezes Over 3 Weeks Early

• Global Climate Extremes INTENSIFYING

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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