Arctic sea ice and methane - 08/17/2015

This is a short compendium of up-to-date discussion as it relates to the Arctic ice and methane release.

My gratitude to Sam Carana, Harold Hensell and others for keeping us up with the state of play.

As Mike Ruppert used to say, “Pass the popcorn”

The retreat of Arctic sea ice – 17 August, 2015

Sea surface temperatures in the Arctic as at August 15, 2015.

Arctic sea ice extent, with the blue dot indicating the extent for August 14, 2015.

Thick multi-year ice has been a feature of the Arctic sea ice for more than 100,000 years. It used to be there all year long, unlike the thinner ice that could melt away entirely during the melting season. The disappearance of this thick multi-year ice thus is a major development in many respects. Here's a Naval Research Lab image of sea ice thickness on August 15, 2015

---Sam Carana

See also this satellite image of August 14, 2015, from Arctic.io showing that there is very little sea ice to the north east of Greenland and what is there looks to be very thin as well

The thinning & retreating glaciers in the Arctic are a clear sign of the devastating effects of climate change

Jakobshavn record retreat

http://neven1.typepad.com/blog/2015/08/jakobshavn-record-retreat.html#more

What a coincidence. Yesterday I wrote in a comment:

There's a fantastic segment on the Arctic Sea Ice Forum for discussing Greenland and its glaciers, with people presenting all kinds of analysis and satellite images. Really top quality stuff.

Well, the folks there (forum member Espen Olsen to be precise) have spotted a large change in Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland's fastest glacier draining 6.5 % of the Greenland ice sheet, between August 14th and 16h:

Espen reckons this is one of the largest calvings in many years, if not thelargest. It also means that last year's retreat line has been passed now (date should be Aug 16 2015):

I'll update this blog post as more becomes known about this calving event, especially the size of the calving. In the meantime, here's an image showing the previous retreat lines through the years, found in this blog post on the Great White Con blog that described another big calving event earlier this year in February:

As Great White Con blogger Jim Hunt wrote at the time:

This most recent event does not bring the calving face further east than the position in summer 2014. However the sun’s rays are only just returning to that part of the planet, and the next one may well do so.

Well, there you have it, Jim. It's there.

---

Update:

It is estimated over on the Forum that the total area of ice that has calved off Jakobshavn Glacier measures 12.5 km2, as compared to the estimated 7 km2 back in February and another 7 km2 back in 2010 (according to NASA). This image made by forum member A-Team shows the area:

From Harold Hensell via Jennifer Hynes

"Methane emissions 08 17 2015 I put this on today because there is an excessive amount of pink. Pink is over 2000 ppb.

The energy balance allotted for methane is 1250 ppb. Above 1250 ppb, infrared heat being trapped exceeds the infrared heat that is being dissipated. The energy imbalance that methane is contributing to has already destabilized the climate. 

This is not that hard to understand. Business as usual, denial and too busy to deal with it is leading us to 'getting cooked". Notify everyone you know and especially your representatives. Give them the information and help them understand.

Arctic Ice 08 15 15

It looks like the central ice sheet has shrunk. Does it look like it has also moved a little down and to the right? Or is it just a little different angle? Future posts should make it more apparent.

08 02 2105

08 15 2015