Arctic Ice July 2010 - Update #3

An update and a bit of Arctic history.

Despite the extensive cloud cover over much of the Arctic it is possible to see some interesting patterns of behavior.

Around the Siberian side of the Arctic the ice has already retreated from shore or is in process of retreating.  The same goes for the Alaskan and Canadian shores as far as Prince Patrick Island.  Ice in the fjords and passages from the Beaufort Sea to Nares Strait is melting.

Arctic Heroes #2 - North Pole 1


The first ever weather station on an ice floe was North Pole 1, set up May 21 1937 by a team of Russians and manned by four heroes.  The record of that event shows that there was more ice in 1937 than today, it was thicker, and it extended down the entire east coast of Greenland.  But thick or not, once the floe moved into the Fram Strait it was in danger of breaking up.

Arctic conditions at the time were so bad that no less than five icebreakers were involved in a chain of events when three of them got trapped in the ice.  The Malygin, Sedov and the Sadko - formerly SS Lintrose - became trapped in ice in a region near the New Siberian Islands.

What Price Freedom Of Information ?

There has been a great deal of fuss over a few emails and the topic of freedom of information in relation to the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit.

At the core of the debate is the issue of whether or not specific information about a few tree rings and weather stations was already available - if you knew where to look - or was being deliberately kept back contrary to law.

I have yet to see even one blogger or commenter pick up on the fact that if the data had been provided it would have been provided on request at a price.  By law.

Arctic Ice July 2010 - Update #2


Something strange is going on.  Arctic watcher blogs are abuzz with talk about the behaviour of graphics which are supposed to show ice extent, area or volume.  many of these graphics seem to show that the Arctic melt has stopped.  Which it hasn't.

Historically, the main pack was always thick multi-year ice.  Ice would be lost at the edges in summer, and the new winter ice would be pressed into the main pack by the various drift motions.  As ice motion opened a new lead it would rapidly freeze over - even in summer.  As the ice expanded by cracking it actually made new ice.  Summer melt would nibble at the ice margins, but the losses would be made good in winter.