NSIDC: Ice Bottoms Out, Second Lowest on Record (maybe)
September 16, 2011
On September 9, 2011 sea ice extent dropped to 4.33 million square kilometers (1.67 million square miles). This appears to have been the lowest extent of the year, and may mark the point when sea ice begins its cold-season cycle of growth. However, a shift in wind patterns or late season melt could still push the ice extent lower.
This year’s minimum was 160,000 square kilometers (61,800 square miles) above the 2007 record minimum extent, and 2.38 million square kilometers (919,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average minimum. Note that our estimated uncertainty for extent is plus or minus 50,000 square kilometers (about 20,000 square miles). The minimum ice extent this year is very close to 2007, and indeed some other research groups place 2011 as the lowest on record. At this point, using our processing and sensor series, the 2011 minimum is a close second.
Readers will remember that last week the University of Bremen, another important sea ice data set, concluded that the sea ice was now at an all time low minimum. The difference between the two sets is so small as to be insignificant in sensible terms.
The sea ice continues it’s disintegration, far faster than predicted even a few years ago, as a recent comparison of climate model predictions, versus real observations, has shown.
UPDATE: Currently working on the annual “Sea Ice Wrapup” video. ETA – with luck, next week sometime..
Climate Denial Crock of the Week 
September 16, 2011 at 5:07 am
Close to 2007, except thinner.
September 16, 2011 at 4:01 pm
This is good news for Canada! Alberta’s Tar Sands: Plan “B” already in place! Google Alberta’s politicians carefully now! They already have published plans to put Safe, plutonium free, benign waste product, Chinese Thorium fueled LFTR reactors on the Tar Sands, to provide clean, “CO2 free” heat for a much more environmentally friendly, Chinese/Canadian money backed, “Steam Extraction” of the oil there, which barely disturbs the top-soil! This methodology has already been tested, proven effective too! Currently, under obligation from the “Great American Corporate and Capitalist Propaganda Whore’s” ridiculous “American Dream” and her “sales pitch bull Shiite”, huge amounts of Canadian Natural Gas is burned off in the American devised technologies for oil recovery there, land is dug up, washed, and put out in great contaminated tailing ponds, and leaks out to surrounding rivers, streams, swamps, and destroys even them.
Canadian/Chinese proposal includes Churchill Manitoba as a huge new Northern Super-Port, oil, and natural gas pipe lined there, shipped through the North West Passage, with assistance from existing Russian nuclear ice-breakers, Russian, Finnish and Swedish mariners with experience in Northern waters already, doing the job, The Ontario Northern Railway reinforced, revived, to bring products, goods from Ontario’s Golden Horse-shoe region to Churchill for export, China wishes to liquify Canadian Natural Gas, ship it in their existing vessels to Asian markets, larger, richer Asian populations. Even suggested are shipments of Canadian Iron Ore, Coal, minerals, metals, grains, flax, hemp, even well educated medical , engineering, sciences, mathematics, students. Canadian schools, and a concerted Canadian effort to read and write in yet another language, Mandarin, an easy task in a multi-Lingual Canada! We await the establishment of another West Edmonton styled Mall, another Canadian adaptation to our rich and prosperous Socialist Democracy our truly Northern country! The “Official Opposition” in our parliament today, The NDP would agree, and will probably win a majority in the next Canadian election!
September 17, 2011 at 6:17 am
JAXA data confirms that Steven Goddard was right again:
September 17, 2011 at 6:17 am
So does DMI:
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icecover.uk.php
September 17, 2011 at 6:41 am
So does NSID:
September 17, 2011 at 11:50 am
You are taking a quite opinionated stance on just about any evidence that suggests global warming. Do you not trust scientists or well-respected bodies such as the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)? The NAS states very clearly that the best peer-reviewed evidence shows that human emissions are very likely the primary driver of climate change, with prompt action recommended. The NAS and other academies throughout the world collect the most cited and best peer-reviewed scientific results and carefully make an assessment.
Click to access 06072005.pdf
Are the solutions presented to mitigate climate change in conflict with your political views or what you feel is best for the world? Did you first become interested in climate change when cap and trade or some other bill was presented?
September 19, 2011 at 5:10 pm
And, of course, so does NORSEX (the graph Goddard cited first, though he also cited NSIDC):
I’m still waiting for Peter to apologize for slamming Steven Goddard, who was obviously right.