Arctic Ice August 2010 - Update #1


Most of the fires in Siberia seem to have been put out or burned out.  Meanwhile, the fires near Moscow continue to burn and there are more fires in Alaska.  I have made a mosaic composite showing the fires at the time of writing.  I have enhanced some of the red fire markers where they were faint in the MODIS originals.  Please note that the size of a red blob does not equate to the size of the fire.


The Arctic - August 04-05 2010 - approx. 2km resolution.

Arctic Ice August 2010

Arctic warming and global warming.

The year up to July 31 has produced many examples of anomalous weather events globally.  We have seen fires, floods, droughts and sandstorms on an immense scale.  A new report shows that 10 out of 10 indicators of global warming are trending in the direction predicted when global warming was merely a theory, rather than a self-evident fact.

A Climate Science Balancing Act


The 2009 State of the Climate report released by NOAA July 28 2010 -

draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable. More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries contributed to the report, which confirms that the past decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.

Peak Oil And Global Warming

"Our ignorance is not so vast as our failure to use what we know."

M._King_Hubbert

I am confident that, if he were still with us, M. King Hubbard would be strongly in favor of the pursuit of alternatives to fossil fuels.  He demonstrated that our use of fossil fuels was not only unsustainable, but could lead to a reversion to an agrarian economy if we failed to address the problem of our dependence on fossil fuels.

Arctic Heroes #3 - Robert McClure


Robert McClure and his crew were the first people to transit the North West Passage - by ship and sled.  They were also the first to circumnavigate the Americas - by ships and sled.


McClure's ship - HMS Investigator - has just been found.  She was abandoned in June 1853 due to a combination of factors: the general poor health of the crew; the uncertainty of escape from the ice; the availability of other vessels to take the crew home.

Arctic Ice July - Update #5

The sharp decline in ice extent slowed somewhat during July.  Some people are claiming this as a sign of recovery.

If you are going downhill at full throttle and you take your foot off the gas you will slow down.  A bit.  But if the brakes aren't working you are in for an exciting time.

Loss of ice extent has slowed down.  A bit.  In plain language: loss of ice continues to be a lot more rapid than has been considered normal historically.

Almost the entirety of the main Arctic Ocean ice cover shows substantial amounts of open water.  The ice is freely mobile in most areas.  Both the North West Passage and the Northern Sea Route, aka North East Passage seem to be easily navigable by icebreakers.