Arctic Report Card 2013

NOAA has released this year's Arctic Report Card.

What's new in 2013?

There were fewer snow and ice extremes than in 2012. Many regions and components of the Arctic environment were closer to their long-term averages, but the effects of a persistent warming trend that began over 30 years ago remain clearly evident.

The impacts of the warming climate on the physical environment during those 30 years are influencing Arctic ecosystems on the land and in the sea.

Here's a video accompanying the report:

And a longer video showing the press conference announcing the report at the 2013 AGU Fall Meeting, last Thursday:

Climate Central's Andrew Freedman, who was present at the press conference to ask questions, has another excellent summary of the report here.

Comments

[Colorado Bob]

You'll all be happy to know I just beat the Climate Progress editor like a rented mule.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/13/3059811/ozone-hole-2070-recovery/

[Colorado Bob]

Bob Berwyn at the Summit County Citizens Voice has a very good summary of the report.

Bob doesn't shoot blanks.

http://summitcountyvoice.com/2013/12/13/report-card-rapid-changes-continue-in-arctic/

[Colorado Bob]

The press conference in wide screen -
http://coloradobob1.newsvine.com/_news/2013/12/13/21889435-fm13-arctic-report-card-2013-press-conference

[Colorado Bob]

Thousands evacuated after Gaza floods

The flooding, caused by four days of torrential rain, was so severe that many homes could only be accessed by rowing boat with water two metres deep in some places.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/12/thousands-evacuated-after-gaza-floods-2013121418338338458.html

[TenneyNaumer]

The report has some interesting visuals:

http://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/2013-arctic-report-card-only-7-percent-ice-cover-end-winter-2013-was

Note the lack of multi-year ice off Ellesmere Island and northern Greenland.

I think we can finally put to rest the idea that these two areas would be the last redoubt of multi-year ice.

[wili]

I'm very glad to see this report, and to see it get coverage here.

From the Freedman piece:

"...“We have almost no observations of the currents, of the census of life” in new areas of open water, NOAA's Kathy Crane said at the press conference.

The insights that scientists have been able to glean about changes to the oceans in the Far North show the same thing that is occurring on land — widespread, rapid change..."

So we essentially nothing about how currents are changing and little more about how life is changing, except that the changes seem to be very large.

"...The report found that 25 percent more heat and freshwater is now being stored in the Beaufort Gyre, which is a clockwise-moving ocean current that circles around north of Alaska and Canada. Much of that heat has been added during the summer and fall, coinciding with the most rapid time of sea ice loss..."

25% (so far) seems like a lot. Is this typical of the whole ocean? Another stupid question: What does 25% mean exactly here in degrees C?

[Boa05att]

"Data from Europe's Cryosat spacecraft suggests there were almost 9,000 cu km of ice at the end of this year's melt season.

This is close to 50% more than in the corresponding period in 2012.....

"This is why we're really quite surprised by what we've seen in 2013.

"We didn't expect the greater ice extent left at the end of the summer melt to be reflected in the volume.

"But it has been. And the reason is related to the amount of multi-year ice in the Arctic."

Dr Don Perovich is a sea-ice expert at Dartmouth College, US.

He said Cryosat's data tallied with observations made by other spacecraft.

"In previous summers, some of the [multi-year ice] migrated over to the Alaska and Siberia areas where it melted. But this past summer, it stayed in place because of a change in wind patterns. And so there'll likely be more multi-year ice next year than there was this year," "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25383373

[Climate Changes]

Re: BBC news article

"The minimum ice extent in the Arctic this summer was recorded as 5.10 million sq km. Again, this was a figure almost 50% larger than the all-time satellite-low mark achieved 12 months previously "

Well, isn't this what happened in 2008 after the 2007 collapse? ... then came 2012. I see no reason to see this 'recovery' as good news... is like the BBC are teaming up with the 'other side' of the argument.

[idunno]

PIOMAS is also showing an approx 50% increase from 2012, rising from just over 3M km3 to around 5Mkm3.

[Colorado Bob]

East Antarctica Is Sliding Sideways: Ice Loss On West Antarctica Affecting Mantle Flow Below

Now that West Antarctica is losing weight--that is, billions of tons of ice per year--its softer mantle rock is being nudged westward by the harder mantle beneath East Antarctica.

The discovery comes from researchers led by The Ohio State University, who have recorded GPS measurements that show West Antarctic bedrock is being pushed sideways at rates up to about twelve millimeters--about half an inch--per year. This movement is important for understanding current ice loss on the continent, and predicting future ice loss.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131211132449.htm