NSIDC has just released its June analysis.
Some interesting tidbits:
Arctic sea ice extent for June 2011 was the second lowest in the satellite data record since 1979, continuing the trend of declining summer ice cover. Average ice extent fell below that for June 2007, which had the lowest minimum ice extent at the end of summer. However, ice extent this year was greater than in June 2010. The sea ice has entered a critical period of the melt season: weather over the next few weeks will determine whether the Arctic sea ice cover will again approach record lows.
(...)
Ice extent during June 2011 declined at an average rate of 80,800 square kilometers (31,200 square miles) per day, about 50% faster than the average decline rate for June 1979 to 2000. Ice extent declined more slowly than in June 2010, the year with the lowest average ice extent for the month. However, ice declined faster than in June 2007, the year when September sea ice extent reached the lowest in the satellite record. Ice loss in the Kara Sea was especially fast, more than double the average rate and close to double the rate of the past four years (2007 to 2010). Sea ice has largely disappeared in the southern Kara Sea, which normally still has considerable ice cover at this time of year.
(...)
Air temperatures for June were 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (2 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than average over most of the Arctic Ocean, except in the Beaufort and Greenland seas, where temperatures were near normal or slightly below normal. High pressure dominated most of the central Arctic, with the highest pressures over the Beaufort Sea. The monthly averaged pressure field shows a circulation pattern somewhat similar to a pattern known as the dipole anomaly, with unusually high pressure over the Beaufort Sea and unusually low pressure over central Siberia. Similar patterns have become common in recent summers.
Read the whole report HERE.
Hey, it's The Rebound! :-P
Posted by: Janne Tuukkanen | July 06, 2011 at 20:03
Slightly OT no matter where I put it - I'm thinking of buying myself one of these. Umbrellas aside, anyone got any other suggestions of arctic sea ice merchandise, wearable or otherwise?
Posted by: Jon Torrance | July 06, 2011 at 21:49
@Jon Torrance | July 06, 2011 at 21:49
What better way to say goodbye to the Arctic summer ice than this fun lake item:
http://www.thegreenhead.com/2011/04/gigantic-inflatable-climbing-iceberg.php
You'll forget all about global warming as you attempt to climb up one of the three climbing wall sides of this incredibly cool new Gigantic 14' Inflatable Climbing Iceberg.
Posted by: Anu | July 07, 2011 at 15:42
Checking 2 days ago where the North Pole webcam was, about 89.1 North, this "pretty" picture showed.
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/npole/2011/images/noaa2-2011-0707-091040.jpg
Anyone thinking it's looking fine and dandy with global cooling ;?
Posted by: Seke Rob | July 07, 2011 at 21:23
This is today picture from camera 2. The large pond in the bakground looks like a small polynya.
Posted by: Yvan Dutil | July 07, 2011 at 22:10
I would love to know size and distance of these markers. The lead is an invitation to estimate free board, do the Archimedes and get sea ice thickness.
Posted by: Arcticio | July 08, 2011 at 23:58
The relation between sea ice thickness and freeboard in the Arctic http://www.the-cryosphere-discuss.net/4/641/2010/tcd-4-641-2010.pdf
Gives a fairly simple formula:
Hi = 8.13Fi +0.37
Where Hi is the height of the ice and Fi equals the Freeboard. It isn't much help on estimating freeboard from a North Pole webcam photo though ....
Posted by: Kevin O'Neill | July 09, 2011 at 01:13