It has been 20 days since I've started this blog and here's a short update on how it's going. So far I've managed to write about the things that interest me, I've learnt how to make small animations and I'm very happy that the blog has attracted some commentators that make invaluable comments. The amount of pageviews is definitely not an end in itself, but it shows the progress from the start:
I don't know if it's a good or a bad sign, but it actually reminds me a bit of this graph:
That steep drop on the last date corresponds to the Global Cooling that starts a few years from now.
I've contemplated upgrading to a more versatile version of TypePad, but I kind of like it the way it is now, simple and neatly arranged. Besides, I've decided to close the blog at the end of the melting season anyhow, so there's not much use in adding all kinds of widgets, Twitter messages, live graphs, polls and ads for selling oil stocks and buying gold.
I'll just keep continuing with the updates, the animations and of course other interesting news concerning the Arctic and its diminishing sea ice. Unfortunately I lack the knowledge and capacities for hardcore analysis, but I hope the commentators can keep coming back to provide some of that. We have an interesting summer ahead of us.
The page views is extraordinary for such a seedling of a blog. Simple is good. As a professor and glaciologist I find most of my time is spent teaching, reviewing or writing papers for pub. The problem is that I have not the time to find all of the interesting material on sea ice for example, that you find, and it will be awhile until a paper comes out on the current obs. that I would get to review. So all of this is wonderful information for me, I will provide analysis when I can though as the summer field season commences that will be less often till fall. Meanwhile I will keep noting changes in glaciers one at a time.
Posted by: Glacierchange.wordpress.com | June 27, 2010 at 00:46
Hi Nevin. I sincerely hope you do NOT shut down this blog at the end of the melt season. Scientific analysis takes time, and many important insights regarding the annual low will still be forthcoming by Christmas. I will make this prediction: 2010 will have the latest date for minimum sea ice extent in the satellite record. I base this on the current mobility / granularity of the ice pack, while recognizing that sea ice advection occurs well into the Fall. With freeze up coming later each year, ice export can continue through Fram and Nares straights beyond the end of the melt cycle. Therefore I predict that minimun sea ice extent will occur from 10 to 20 days later this year, that is between Sep 24 and Oct 4. So you see, you can't close this blog (at least until Dec 2013). Thanks again for providing this venue for the interested citizen, with it's storehouse of community knowledge. All the best!
Posted by: Artful Dodger | June 27, 2010 at 01:43
I've been checking in daily and would miss this place if it goes dark when the Arctic night falls. Why not shift gears and turn your attention to Antarctic sea ice & shelves?
Posted by: fredd | June 27, 2010 at 02:05
You do seem to be meeting a need, Neven! Let me add my voice to those who would/will miss this page when the season ends.
If it gets to be too burdensome, you can always cut back the frequency of updates a bit, after all.
Posted by: Kevin McKinney | June 27, 2010 at 04:12
Thanks for the positive comments! There's at least 10 weeks to go till the end of the season, so I'll just see how it goes. If after the end of the season there are still interesting things to report, they will be reported, of course.
But if the melting all of a sudden stops, like it did in 2008 and 2009, I'm shutting down the blog straight away. ;-)
Posted by: Neven | June 27, 2010 at 08:40