News from the Arctic: 21 November 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

This diary will be relatively short; not the Climate Change News Digest, but just news from the Arctic last week.  Headlines:

• Ice extent increased more slowly than usual last week.
• The general circulation set up in something like what's called a positive Arctic Oscillation, with stronger-than-normal cyclonic circulation at high latitudes, and higher than normal pressures toward the south.
• Sea ice extent is less than it was after the record melt of 2007.

Here's a picture of the scene from the Barrow AK Arctic sea ice web camera taken last weekend.

More below the fold.

continued at Daily Kos....

Climate Change News Roundup: 14 November 2010

by billlaurelMD

What's been going on in the Arctic?  First I'll show a picture from Barrow AK's Arctic sea ice webcam as I often do. This one is from 9:18 a.m. Alaska time on 13 November 2010. Snow on the ground of 3", and the near-shore sea ice is affixed to land, while you can see there is open water well-offshore.

More below.

continued at Daily Kos....

Climate Change News Roundup: 10|10|10

by billlaurelMD

We apologize for this being two days late, but hopefully not a dollar short :-/.

Same as last time, I'll multitask with the usual Arctic Sea Ice diary, with Climate Change news links appearing afterward.  

News From the Arctic: September 2010 Summary

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) issued its summary of the mean September sea ice for 2010, including a discussion of the 2010 sea ice minimum and implications for the future  of Arctic sea ice.  Below you'll find the graphic that tells the story over the past 32 years.

More below the fold, then the Climate Change News Roundup.

continued at Daily Kos....

Climate News: Weekend of 26 September 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent (the area covered 15% or more  sea ice) last week on 18 September 2010, according to the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Since the minimum, sea ice extent in the Arctic Basin has increased by almost 300,000 km² to about 5.1 million km² as of 24 September.  

Here's a the Barrow AK Arctic Sea Ice webcam at 14:36 Alaska Time on 25 September.  There's a trace of snow on the ground, but no sea ice as yet.  Conditions at photo time are annotated.

More below.

continued at Daily Kos....

eKos: Arctic Sea Ice in Death Spiral - Min Volume Hit

by FishOutofWater

The volume of Arctic sea ice hit the record minimum this September according to Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. National Snow and Ice data Center (NSDIC).

The volume - extent and thickness - of ice left in the Arctic likely reached the lowest ever level this month, Serreze told IPS.

"I stand by my previous statements that the Arctic summer sea ice cover is in a death spiral. It's not going to recover," he said.

Source: Polar Science Center, Univ. of Washington

continued at Daily Kos....

Dear Republicans: Climate Change is Just Not That Into You

by Steven D

Silly Republicans.  They think they can trash talk Climate Change and treat it like their personal punching bag.  Despite all the evidence they keep badmouthing Climate Change, calling it a joke, a "hoax," a get rich quick scheme by Algore based on "junk science" and a plot by the UN and the EPA to steal our precious bodily fluids freedoms.

Well I have news for them. Climate Change doesn't care what Republicans or Teabaggers think of it.  It is amused at your puny efforts to deny its existence to score cheap political points.  It just keeps moving along at an ever increasing rate.  

(cont.)

continued at Daily Kos....

National Snow and Ice Data Center: August 2010 ice

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has issued its report on [http://nsidc.org/ August 2010 arctic sea ice condition. If you've been following my diaries, you can probably guess at its gist. Headlines from the report:

1. August 2010 had the second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent since satellite records began in 1979.

Sea level pressure anomalies resembled the pattern that results in quickly vanishing Arctic sea ice; low pressure over Siberia and high pressure over the Arctic western hemisphere.

Arctic sea ice volume at 31 August was about 9,400 km³ below normal.

Much of the sea ice remaining is slushy and easily moved and melted.

More below.

continued at Daily Kos....

Climate News: Week of 5 September 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

This week, the climate news diary I usually do will be out a little early, since I'm writing up the more general one for Patriot News Clearinghouse today. So the latest news may be a bit briefer than usual. First, the Barrow AK Arctic Sea Ice webcam from this a.m. (5:17 Alaska Time). Weather is nasty as one would expect ... but actually a shade warmer than normal.

The rest of the Arctic story this week below.

continued at Daily Kos....

Climate News: 29 August 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

Arctic sea ice is in the forefront of the news I have today.  But I also have a graphic of the globally integrated near-surface temperature to show you all below.

Global Mean Temperature Time Series from U of Alabama Huntsville, 1998-2010

All but a few days in July have been warmer in 2010 than any of the previous 12 years. This is something not at all surprising given the kind of climate year we've had to date. That this is the case as we have transitioned to a La Niña from an El Niño in the last few months, however, may well be unprecedented.

More below.

continued at Daily Kos....

Climate News: Week ending 21 August 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

We're heading toward the end of the Arctic sea ice melt season as the sun descends toward the horizon in the polar latitudes. Speaking of polar latitudes, here's a picture from Barrow AK from yesterday morning, annotated with the weather at the time.  Foggy and gloomy, par for the course in August.

Barrow AK web cam photo, 23 August 2010 at 5:36 a.m. Alaska Time

More below the fold.

continued at Daily Kos....

Climate News: Week ending 14 August 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

I'm expanding this diary series a bit to include more than just Arctic topics, though that will continue to be my major emphasis. In that vein, here are the headlines for the week ending 14 August:

1. Arctic sea ice continued to retreat at an average pace.

Weather in European Russia continued to be very hot, but the smoke from burning peat and forest fires was cleared by a shift in the wind.

Yet more flooding occurred in Pakistan, with at least 13 14 20 million people displaced. This is the worst flooding in the history of that country.

The National Climate Data Center in Asheville NC issued its July 2010 global climate summary. Short description:  HOT, but not quite a record if you count land and ocean.

Hurricane season in the Northern Hemisphere, surprisingly, has had its slowest start on record.

Discussion below the fold.

continued at Daily Kos...

News from the Arctic: July summary edition

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center NSIDC issued its July 2010 report on 4 August 2010.  I'll start with the news therein.  Then, I'll show you what's been happening since 31 July in weather and sea ice, hopefully through 6 or 7 August, if the data is updated promptly.  Finally, I'll have a few comments on how I expect things to pan out for the rest of the melt season.

More below.

continued at Daily Kos...

News from the Arctic: Belated from weekend of 31 July

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in a series of diaries on the state of Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted) in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

I was away in, of all places, Ft. Lauderdale FL this past weekend, so I didn't do a diary right away. I was at a yearly conference for the National Asssociation of Black and White Men Together Annual Convention for 2010. This group at one time had as many as 1200 or so members and 30-some-odd chapters in the U.S. and elsewhere (when known as the INTERnational Association of Black and White Men Together). Now we only have about 10 chapters and maybe one-hundred members. What happened is the topic of another diary I may do some day.

Headlines from last week:

• Rate of ice loss increases
• Strong low pressure anomaly forms over west Siberia
• Anomalous southerly flow from the Asian continent over central and east Siberia
• Off-Arctic: Record heat wave and drought in European Russia, Ukraine, adjacent countries; Moscow hits 101°F; first time ever over 100°F.

Follow me below the fold.

continued at Daily Kos...

News from the Arctic: 25 July 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

HEADLINES:

• Steady decline in Arctic sea ice, about par with 1979-2000 average rate.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center post a press release on the slowdown in Arctic sea ice loss
• Pressure and wind anomalies make a warm Siberia and cold northeast Europe

The obligatory Arctic web cam picture, this one from Barrow AK yesterday morning, is shown below.  
Barrow AK in the Fog

Barrow AK at 7:09 a.m. Alaska Time, 24 July 2010

More after the fold.

continued at Daily Kos...

News from the Arctic: 18 July 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

Headlines:

• The decrease noted in sea ice melt noted in the last few diaries continued last week.
• Record heat has been going on across Russia and Siberia for the last week; readings in the 90s°F in northeastern Siberia were noted yesterday afternoon local time (map below the fold
• The Arctic Ocean basin has been rather cool over the past week, particularly on the North American and Asian side.

More after the jump.

continued at Daily Kos....

News from the Arctic: 11 July 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

Loss of sea ice has slowed sharply in the last week, from 80-120 km² per day to 30-70 km² per day (numbers approximate and from the joint International Arctic Research Center -- Japan Aeronautical Exploration Agency Information System (IJIS). The recent rate of sea ice extent loss is below the long term 1979-2000 average as you will see in the chart below from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

continued at Daily Kos....

News from the Arctic: Record low ice in June 2010 (Update at bottom)

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center has just issued its June 2010 report, and it isn't pretty. Headlines:

• Record low mean June Arctic sea ice extent
• A return of the sea level pressure and wind patterns that brought us the record Arctic sea ice minimum extent in September 2007
• Arctic sea ice loss may decrease for a time because of reaching thicker second- and third-year sea ice

Details below.

continued at Daily Kos....

News from the Arctic: U.S. Independence Day 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

I'm starting this diary on Friday night of the Holiday weekend, having spent a nice day with my partner beginning the arduous task of putting together one of those new-fangled raised gardens in a box (well, in two boxes actually, full of cedar-scented wood panels, hardware, hoses and assorted other parts).  We've had it for a month and 1/2, but between being sick and the heat this June, we just couldn't get it together to start working on it.  Today and tomorrow will be it, though ... it's supposed to be 95°F on Sunday and close to 100°F Monday.  Hot hot hot for the foreseeable future.  By the way, June broke a record for highest average temperature in D.C., and averaged over 80°F for the first time.  

There'll be a report on June climate more generally in a couple of weeks, once the compilations are done. For now, follow me below to see the most recent week's trend in Arctic sea ice.

continued at Daily Kos....

News from the Arctic: 27 June 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

In my diary last week, I neglected to put the header acknowledging Johnny Rook's contributions to the environmental diaries here at Daily Kos.  I apologize for the oversight.

Okay, now on to this week's news.  The international study of the Arctic still goes on, despite our economic troubles.  At the North Pole in April 2010, two buoys with weather instruments were launched.  They're currently drifting south toward an area between Greenland and Svalbard called the Fram Strait; the green and red lines in the map below show their path through 11 June. At 26 June their locations were about a third of a degree or so further south than shown in the map.

More below.

continued at Daily Kos....

Arctic Sea Ice Meltdown Accelerates: DK Greenroots

by FishOutofWater

Thin Arctic sea ice, is cracking up and melting down at record rates so far this year. A central core of ice north of Greenland is intact while most of ice is failing across the Arctic. The melting of Arctic sea ice has more profound ecological and climatological implications than the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Arctic sea ice concentration.

continued at Daily Kos....