Arctic Sea Ice

On the fringes

2011 is coming to an end, which means we're halfway through the Arctic winter. The sea ice is thickening up nicely everywhere in the Arctic interior, but things aren't progressing as uniformly at the edges. Just like last year we see an above average ice cover in some regions, but a very slow freeze-up in other regions.

A good example of the former is Hudson Bay. It was extremely late in freezing over last year, and thus melted very fast in Spring. This year, however, its ice cover is almost average for the time of year according to the Cryosphere Today regional SIA graph:

The Bering Sea region is above average and will hit its maximum SIA fairly easily in the coming weeks:

Arctic methane: Russian researchers report

I vowed not to talk about this because it literally makes me sick to my stomach, but it's too important to deny. We all know about the vast deposits of methane clathrates on the Siberian continental shelf. They are kept in place by pressure and low temperatures. However, the temperatures (SAT as well as SST) are getting less and less low in the Arctic, so in theory it could mean that these deposits come loose and leave the ocean floor to end up in the atmosphere. Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 and some extinction events in the distant past have been linked to the deadly feedback of warming->methane release->more warming->more methane release->etc.

No one is really sure what is going on exactly with those methane deposits, but in the past years there has been much speculation (undoubtedly caused by the spectacular retreat of summer sea ice in the region) and reporting of a probable increase of methane bubbling up from the Siberian continental shelf. And so the results of this year's Russian research mission were eagerly awaited. Mind you, not by me.

It seems the results are in and were reported at AGU last week.
The Independent reports with this article:

Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas

Russian research team astonished after finding 'fountains' of methane bubbling to surface

Arctic Report Card 2011

NOAA has released the Arctic Report Card 2011 (h/t Peter Sinclair):

 

Atmosphere - Higher temperatures in the Arctic and unusually lower temperatures in some low latitude regions are linked to global shifts in atmospheric wind patterns.

Sea Ice & Ocean - A shift in the Arctic Ocean system since 2007 is indicated by the decline in ice age and summer extent, and the warmer, fresher upper ocean.

Marine Ecosystems - Since 1998, biological productivity at the base of the food chain has increased by 20%. Polar bears and walrus continue to lose habitat in Alaskan waters.

Terrestrial Ecosystems - Increased “greenness” of tundra vegetation in Eurasia and North America linked to increase in open water and warmer land temperatures in coastal regions.

Hydrology and Terrestrial Cryosphere - Continued dramatic loss of ice sheet and glacier mass, reduced snow extent and duration, and increasing permafrost temperatures are linked to higher Arctic air temperatures.

December 2011 Open Thread

We sleepily await the newest updates from NSIDC and PIOMAS. In the meantime over at the SciencePoles website from the International Polar Foundation there's a very interesting interview with professor Martin Jakobsson: Investigating Arctic Paleoclimates.