Arctic Sea Ice on Track for Record Low Levels This Year

Earlier this year, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in the Arctic reached the unhappy milestone of 400 parts-per-million. Now, information coming from the National Snow & Ice Data Center indicates that this year's Arctic sea ice is on pace to shrink to its smallest levels ever.

One of the clearest examples of the effects of global warming and climate change is the receding of the Arctic ice cap. The NSIDC indicates that this year's sea ice is already slightly smaller than it was in 2010, which was the previous record for this time of year. It is also smaller than it was in 2007, which was the year that had the ice cap shrink to its smallest size in September of that year.

Starting the summer with the smallest Arctic cap on record is not an auspicious sign, for the Arctic or for the planet.

image: NSIDC

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This is absurd, Low-rated comment [Show]

Rogers Been Drinking the Extremely Stale Cool Aid
written by Criminoboy, June 20, 2012

Roger - you can't even pull the trick where you start in the El-Nino year of 1998 and then try to show a declining trend, because the mean has moved beyond that anyway.

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs_v3/Fig.A2.gif

The sun - yes, it's solar activity - Alex Jones will save us!! Who needs scientists.

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written by P Proefrock, June 21, 2012

Had I come across this earlier, I might've used it for the image for this article; it's the first picture of Earth from the north pole:
https://secure.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/7394700302/in/photostream

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written by Ilana, June 21, 2012

If we don't start caring about the environment now then it is going to be really late. So we must all stand up and take action.

@ciminboy
written by anteater, June 21, 2012

If you have given up driving cars (of all kinds - gas, battery, hybrid), don't buy bottled water, don't use electricity, grow your down food, capture your own drinking water directly from rain then you have some credibility, otherwise you are just another oxygen thief like all the rest of us.

-3

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written by Kalirren, June 21, 2012

Roger, would you like to take my even-money bet that September average sea ice extent in at least one year before or including 2025 is less than 10% of its 1980-1990 average level for that month?