Warming sea temperature in the Arctic

Comparative sea temperatures – New Zealand vs the Arctic

Seemorerocks

When I saw these maps of absolute sea surface temperature I was shocked.

What I saw was that sea temperatures just sount of the Bering Strait was within the same temperature range of seas around the South Island of New Zealand, albeit in winter, but in a temperate one.

The temperatures in Bering Strait and further north into the Arctic were in the same ranege as seas to the south of New Zealand (approximately 5C or 40F) - cold, but no exactly frigid.

This includes the seas to the north of Siberia where sea ice has completely disappeared.

It brought it home for me just how warm these waters in the Arctic and why the sea ice is disappearing so quickly in the Arctic.



This is what Paul Beckwith has to say about this - 

And here is his devastating summary of the state of Arctic ice from a few days ago