Looking towards the end of the OFFICIAL end ot the melt season

The present state of Arctic sea ice and the events of February this year indicate that the OFFICIAL melt season that ends in about a week may not be as important as it was.

An Arctic sea ice update - 09/06/2018

 

The official melt season is almost over, with not more than a week to go.  Margo has recorded her fortnightly campfire chat today.

Everyone such as Robert Fanney is talking about this year as if there is nothing to see hear.

Looking at sea ice extent that seems to be the case. 

However, here are the last data for sea ice concentration and sea ice thickness.

 

The latest figures for sea ice volume (which is a far more relevant measurement than sea ice extent) look unremarkable.

However, I would argue that these measurements mean a lot less than they did when the ice was thicker and in better shape.

Much of the ice is very thin and "lazy"  (to the extent that Greenland can be circumnavigated practically without the aid of an icebreaker.

As described in Paul Beckwith's discussion with Jennifer Hynes and Mike Ferrigan there is now a lot of mixing of fresh water and sea water.

What is clear is that the melting from below is every bit as the melting as a result of high air temperatures which attacks the ice from the perimeter.  

As the following photos  from 85 and 86 degrees North (that's not that far from the Pole) show there is a lot of decline in sea ice integrity.

This is something that hardly anyone else is looking at or acknowledging.

Through Margo I have learned how to find historical material on Climate Reanalyzer which shows that, although conditions were hot enough to aggressively attack the ice area the ice itself was thicker and in much better shape than today.

Here are the changes from January to October in 2012.

Here is data for temperature anomalies from January to September this year.

I would recommend that this looked at in conjunction with the latest from Paul Beckwith HERE, HERE and HERE.