Arctic Ocean at a tipping point

THE SWINGING SEA ICE AREA: ARCTIC OCEAN AT A TIPPING POINT?

Via Facebook.Thanks Veli Albert Kallio and Sam Carana

The Arctic Ocean's ice area has been seasonally all-time lowest most of the days since the start of 2016.

Never before the sea ice area has seen its current roller coaster rises and collapses.

This is due to wafer-thin film of ice forming over the sea which is then pulverized and mixed into sea water by the first gusts of wind when they come.

Then the surface of sea freezes again, and the sea ice area skyrockets to fall once again on this rollercoaster ride.

Currently sea ice area is average, but this masks the sea being covered by a thin film of ice, possibly wind blown snow flowing over cold sea surface - which radar interprets as 'ice'.

The wave action also pulverises ice and if anything one could start calling this present rollercoaster without precedent as "tipping point" on its clearest and most extreme manifestation.

(Figure: Cryosphere Today, scale 375%)

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/arctic.sea.ice.interactive.html