Sea Ice in Free Fall. Deniers: Nothing to See here, Move On….
August 25, 2012
Was tracking the current sea ice melt at the indispensable Arctic Sea Ice blog. There are a lot of graphs there and elsewhere, but watching this satellite sequence give some indication of how the recent, and current, – emergent cyclones have caused the ice to break up spread out, and melt in warmer (by arctic standards) water.
Commenter dabize has sent me the latest ‘declouded’ version of the False-Colour Composite images Environment Canada makes of the LANCE-MODISsatellite images. They give us an excellent view of week to week changes that are blocked by cloudy conditions in the Arctic.
Changes in the ice pack really stand out, but also keep an eye on the Canadian Archipelago and Northwest Passage, where in situ melting is jaw-dropping this year..
I’ve been collecting material including some surprising expert insights, for the annual sea ice video, which will be the next project. We are now seeing new minimums drop by the hour, and the melt season has at least another week to go, in all likelihood.
See below for last year’s Sea Ice wrap-up.
Climate Denial Crock of the Week 
August 25, 2012 at 12:22 am
I’m just enjoying the fact that the geniuses at WUWT predicted a sea ice minimum extent of 4.9 million km2, which we blew past a week or two ago. They updated their prediction to about 4.5 million once they realized how foolish the first attempt was. We blew past that a few days ago. I think every climate denier sea ice prediction has been absurdly wrong on the high side – I’ll be compiling them once this year’s minimum is over.
August 25, 2012 at 12:30 am
The bigger the loss the greater the recovery…(my prediction of how WUWT will try to spin this) 🙂
August 25, 2012 at 1:09 am
Dana, I was just thinking the other day how I would love to see a time series graph of their predictions versus the actual. Will look forward to seeing it.
August 25, 2012 at 7:01 pm
how bout this idea? a “WattsWatch” page tracking how long it takes before Anthony admits that maybe something is going on in the arctic?
Or is that a multi-decadal project?
August 26, 2012 at 12:01 am
I’m 41 and in excellent health, but I doubt I’d live long enough to see that. No, I think Anthony will be saying its natural all the way into his grave. He’s invested too much narcissism and false pride into his position to ever change it.
August 25, 2012 at 6:15 am
[…] Was tracking the current sea ice melt at the indispensable Arctic Sea Ice blog. There are a lot of graphs there and elsewhere, but watching this satellite sequence give some indication of how the r… […]
August 25, 2012 at 10:00 am
I know you won’t, but don’t forget to include NASA’s Tom Wagner. That guy is so awesome that I’m going to put his picture over my bed (if my wife lets me).
August 25, 2012 at 7:33 pm
hopefully NASA will have a video commentary on this event, with Wagner as usual.
August 25, 2012 at 12:35 pm
The ice is shot- the albedo flip intensifies – this increases the melt in Greenland-
you might as well flush the ice left- and the climate down the toilet- its over.
August 25, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Even Hansen doesn’t think we’re past the point of no return – YET.
But even if we reverse course tomorrow, the heat stored in the oceans will means decades of climatic craziness until things settle down.
August 25, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Has Joe Bastardi made any predictions since his awesomely wrong one about returning to 2005 levels? A list of denier predictions starting last year and through this one would be hilarious.
I think even many of the predictions over at Tamino are going to be on the high side. Mine was : /
August 25, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Apologies it’s an hour long, but it’s good watchable stuff and informative.
Prof. David Barber: “On Thin Ice: The Arctic and Climate Change”
http://video.hint.no/mmt201v10/osc/?vid=55
August 25, 2012 at 6:55 pm
More Barber here
anyone who knows of more recent pieces by him let me know, he’s such a great, convincing speaker
August 25, 2012 at 4:14 pm
skeptictmac57 Says: Even Hansen doesn’t think we’re past the point of no return – YET.
But even if we reverse course tomorrow, the heat stored in the oceans will means decades of climatic craziness until things settle down.
we have about 4-5 years left to begin reducing our emissions
are we anywhere near that inflection point?
August 26, 2012 at 4:36 am
That was my comment, not skepticmac57’s but, to answer your question, I don’t think we’re close to an agreement for ambitious emissions reductions.
I don’t believe we’re doomed but I do think we’ll have to consider geoengineering options on a wide scale.
August 26, 2012 at 9:25 am
Wide scale geoengineering? Mike Mann in an interview a month or so ago said Geo engineering comes with many risks. He said we have no real clear picture yet of what the ramifications would be. It could cause a multitude of negative factors that could make our problems far worse. Before trying any risky geo engineering schemes, it might be best to begin reducing emissions. To save an economy based on infinite growth and consumption, by pumping unknown particles into the atmosphere seems risky and dangerous to me.
August 27, 2012 at 11:51 pm
[…] 2012/08/25: PSinclair: Sea Ice in Free Fall. Deniers: Nothing to See here, Move On… […]