Lowest June Arctic Sea Ice Extent Ever Recorded - AFP

[hatrack]

June marks the beginning of the melt season for Arctic sea ice, which reaches its minimum extent at the end of the season in September. In the past few Septembers, Arctic sea ice concentration (the amount of ice in a given area) has been markedly reduced. September 2002 set a new record low at 15 percent below average. It was followed closely by September 2003 and September 2004. So far, 2005 is shaping up to be another record-low sea ice year in the Arctic.

This image shows places where Arctic sea ice was above (blue) or below (red) average in June 2005, the end of the first month of the melt season. The images are made from data from the satellite-based, Scanning Multi-channel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I). Ice-free areas appear in light gray, and landmasses appear in dark gray. The black line shows the median ice edge for 1979 through 2000. Except for a small area in the East Greenland Sea, Arctic sea ice has retreated almost everywhere in June 2005. The month set a new record low: 6 percent below the long-term mean for June sea ice extent.

During the melt season in any year, some areas may experience positive anomalies—higher than average sea ice concentration—or negative anomalies—lower than average ice concentrations. Most anomalies occur along the margins of the ice cap, but they can also occur near the pole at the end of the melt season. Few if any anomalies occur near the pole in June. Different explanations have been proposed for Arctic sea ice decline, including the strong positive mode of the Arctic Oscillation (AO). This oscillation is an alternating pattern of atmospheric pressure at polar latitudes and mid-latitudes.

In the early 1990s, the AO was in positive mode. In that mode, the AO produces a strong polar vortex, and resulting winds tended to flush older, thicker ice out of the Arctic. Since the late 1990s, however, the AO has been much more neutral, yet Arctic sea ice decline continues. Another explanation for declining sea ice is climate change.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/news/arctic-05l.html

[El Supremo]

1. I've got some Florida beach front property for sale at a great price! n/t

[marmar]

2. Do you ever get the feeling...

that the world is irreversibly fucked?

:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

[hatrack]

3. Have to admit, it crosses my mind from time to time

:mad:

[wli]

5. It's not a feeling, it's a fact.

My consolation is that my lifetime is limited enough I'll die before seeing the worst of it (hopefully the political/economic issues won't strike early).

[wli]

4. goodbye fresh water, hello runaway global warming

Also bye to low-lying coastal regions.

[punpirate]

6. "The governor of Florida...

... Noelle Bush, will plead in 2031 for the federal government to supply $6 trillion for a sea wall around the coastal borders of the state, and for an additional $1.2 trillion for extra air conditioners for state offices.

"The sweatshop industry, made possible by her father's passage of the repeal of Wage & Hour Act in 2017 when he was President, is for now safe from the effects of global warming, as it was mostly located inland to be safely hidden from the view of tourists."

Or something like that. :)

[Delphinus]

8. My Gawd, what a thought!

:-)

[gulfcoastliberal]

7. This is my fave satellite pic showing cumulative shrinking of arctic ice