pazzo83

81.7/76 here in downtown DC - it's humid out

We did it guys!!!

It's going the wrong way again.

Dude Arctic sea ice is flat-lining in the middle of freaking January:

Umm

Some good data from one of our own: It's kind of insane that over half of the days of 2016 set daily records for low sea ice. I mean, can you imagine if there were a particular station that recorded daily record highs for 200 days of a particular year? Alarm bells would be blaring far and wide... Also, I found this graph PARTICULARLY troubling (from Svalbard, Norway):

Buoy close to the North Pole reported a surface temp of 0.4C at 1300UTC today: Ice is getting slaughtered in this general vicinity:

This unprecedented warmth in the Arctic just continues and continues. Vize Island, Russia (which is at about 80º N latitude) has yet to dip below 0ºF. It's avg HIGH for December is -5ºF.

Welp And along the Arctic Coast in AK

We have enough data on sea ice to know that its current status is anomalous - even compared to the prior warm phase AMO period in the mid 20th Century.

Vize Island, Russia still hasn't dropped below 0F. Avg high right now there is about -4F.

How do these fluctuations explain what is only a recent sharp decrease in sea ice coverage?

Holy sh*t - that end of year max is just not there this year for global sea ice:

Here's a good animation showing those areas of open water expanding...

Even if it's a coincidental confluence of events that's behind this, you'd have to think we are approaching a situation where it starts to "run away" so to speak. In other words, melting begets melting.

Is it possible that there those record levels in the Antarctic over the past couple years were only in coverage and not necessarily volume (as in, the ice was more widespread but demonstrably thinner)?

Some of what I read suggests some changes in circumpolar winds, but to cause an almost 6SD drop?

Not an error. Something is going on... http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/arctic-antarctic-sea-ice-polar-global-warming-climate-change-india-alaska-a7458881.html

Meanwhile in Antarctica, a big ol' WTF

Sea ice growth in the Arctic slowing again:

"source of data" != your anecdotal monitoring

Look at the buoys at or above 80N - temps are are in the mid-upper 20s F wtf. http://iabp.apl.washington.edu/maps_daily_table.html

Wait - we lost nearly 100,000 sq km of ice coverage in ONE day? Also, all those records are within the last decade. Man, we are f*cked.

Does that main max in the late part of the year happen because the Antarctic sea ice is just passed its max plus the Arctic is supposed to be rapidly freezing up? If so, I'd wager this is a combo of the wholesale lack of sea ice in the Arctic plus a paltry (relative to normal) level in the Antarctic.

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