Arctic Sea Ice Cover In Mid-June Tracking Well Below 2007's Record-Low Extent

[hatrack]

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The Beaufort Sea north of Alaska and Canada and the Laptev Sea north of Siberia are also melting quickly. "We don't normally see ice opening so fast in those areas," says Meier. "This is an indication that the ice there is pretty thin."

As you can see from the satellite mosaic of the Arctic for today, 14 June (above), the rapidly melting Laptev Sea lies at the downstream end of the mighty Lena River in Siberia. The Beaufort Sea lies at the downstream end of Canada's mightiest river, the MacKenzie River (delta not visible)—where May temperatures rose well above the 20th-century average (see last image, below).



Ice thickness data (above) show the Beaufort's sea ice to be thin—3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters). That's the signature of first-year ice. Which means it will be prone to melting completely this summer. Sorry, polar bears, bearded seals, ringed seals, and walruses.

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May 2012 also marks the 36th consecutive May and the 327th consecutive month—that's more than 27 years—with a global temperature above the 20th century average, reports NOAA's Environmental Visualization Laboratory.

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http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/06/arctic-sea-ice-falls-below-ominous-milestone

[intaglio]

1. What's worse is the volume

Taken from Arctic Sea Ice Blog

[XemaSab]

2. In the last 9 days we've lost HELLA ice

[emmadoggy]

3. K & R. That is a scary-fast drop. nt

[GliderGuider]

4. And another look at the situation

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

1979/1980 compared to 2007, 2011 and 2012: