AMSR Polar Ice Imagery 8/21 - Remnants of Beaufort Sea Cover Going Fast

[hatrack]

E. Siberian side of Arctic Basin coverage also thinning rapidly.

http://iup.physik.uni-bremen.de:8084/amsr/arctic_AMSRE_nic.png

[skids]

1. So if I get this right...

...anything else that melts this year is sitting on land?

[hatrack]

2. Oh no - plenty of elbow room left for sea ice thinning and collapse

We're still about a month away from the seasonal minimum for the floating pack.

Also, there's plenty of melting going on, especially in Greenland and on the islands of the Canadian Arctic, it's just that that process is harder to track than sea ice cover.

[phantom power]

3. I assume that melt rate phase-lags with solar intensity.

As in, August is generally the hottest month, not June, even though June has the highest solar intensity. So, we're actually seeing the highest melt-rate right now?

[XemaSab]

4. Yes, but that's not the entire story

Ice melting is a function of outside heat, light, and surface-to-volume ratio.

The smaller/thinner the ice sheet, the faster it will melt in part because it's no longer able to insulate itself. Also dark ice (eg thin or dirty ice) melts faster than white ice because light is more easily translated to heat.

The Gulf Stream is undoubtedly responsible for a lot of the melt, so there are external factors outside the Arctic feeding the melt that will continue even after the Arctic winter comes along. It comes from the Tropical Atlantic, so it's got its own schedule.

So not only are we at the hottest time of the year, but there are other factors feeding into making the melt-rate highest right now besides just the seasonal lag of the maximum.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. :(

(oh, and on edit: the ice blankets the Arctic Ocean from warming too, so with the "blanket" gone the ocean is heating faster from the sun hitting it too)

[phantom power]

5. Yes, the list of positive feedbacks is long and depressing.

I was just thinking, we're already seeing these record-smashing ice minimums, and yet it's not like "oh, at least it's almost over." We're still in the period of most rapid melting. As you say, we are clearly going to lose a lot more ice before it's over.

"Faster than expected" on fucking steroids.

[hatrack]

6. Thanks! I had forgotten about the self-regulating nature of ice masses like this.

Never a dull moment!

[phantom power]

7. self regulating?

[hatrack]

9. Should have said "self-limiting" - thinking before typing generally a good idea

:silly:

[kestrel91316]

8. Anybody else notice that the fabled Northwest Passage is now free and clear.....

with another month of melting to go?

[GliderGuider]

10. Yep. It's been essentially clear for a week or more.

There has been a thin neck of 25% ice in that one location around the middle of the passage, but it appears to be gone now.