also the Antarctica sea ice is a little low for the period but it has not shown over the years any loss and is a different situation than found in the Arctic.
November Arctic sea ice: Warm winds keep ice cover well below average November 4, 5:56 PMDallas Weather ExaminerSteve LaNore
Arctic sea ice growth faced stiff resistance from nature in October, says the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Intense low pressure worked to generate strong southerly winds over the Arctic Ocean and Siberia, keeping ice from forming.
Temperatures were also as much as 10 degrees above average during portions of the month.
A study mentioned on the NSIDC website conducted at the University of Melbourne in Australia suggests that less summer sea ice cover can lead to a feedback loop: warmer water (less ice) provides more energy for storms; the winds from these storms delay ice formation during the fall, and so the cycle deepens.
This pattern retards ice growth but at the same time increases precipitation (snowfall) which accumulates over land areas. This makes for greater cold air reservoirs later in the winter. One might conclude this would lead to more cold air outbreaks in the U.S. and Canada, but the data is far too sketchy and recent to draw that conclusion.
For now, the arctic sea ice pack hovers just above the 2006/2007 record lows for various parts of November (2006 was the record low sea ice year for the last two weeks of the month; 2007 for the first two weeks).
Ice growth is expected to accelerate now that all of the Arctic Ocean is in continuous darkness for the next two months. Whether the unusual weather pattern will continue to interfere is unknown.
The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consul Ifft, at Bergen, Norway. Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers, he declared, all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone.
Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met with as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.
Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts, which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds.
"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct from natural variation."
Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville
> The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some > places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to > the Commerce Department yesterday from Consul Ifft, at Bergen, Norway. > Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers, he declared, all point > to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of > temperatures in the Arctic zone.
> Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met with as > far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters > showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been > replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at > many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.
> Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while > vast shoals of herring and smelts, which have never before ventured so far > north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds.
> "It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps > US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of > scientists worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that > is distinct from natural variation."
> Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, > Townsville
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