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From Paul Pastelok mentioning the Pattern Near Arctic is Much Different Than Last Year. High pressures last year helped with the melting. This year there's unusual low pressures helping spread the ice out more.
" I was on the National Snow and Ice Data Center when I noticed a nice comparison of last year to this year for half of the summer. The low-level pattern near Greenland and the arctic has been completely different. We have mentioned this before, but it is making impacts on the amount of ice melting that went on in the past couple of months. Here are the graphics from the site showing temperature at 2,500 feet and pressure at the surface for a period in the summer for 2012 and 2013.
Here is part of the discussion from that page on what they are showing on this graphic..
The pattern of unusually low pressure centered near the pole in 2013 has helped to spread the ice out and is consistent with generally cool conditions over much of the Arctic Ocean, inhibiting melt. By contrast, in the summer of 2012, a broad region of unusually high pressure centered over Greenland, in combination with below average pressure centered over the East Siberian and Chukchi seas, led to winds over the Beaufort Sea with a more southerly component than is usually the case, leading to warm conditions."
I just wonder if the blocking will be different this year, perhaps in a different region leading to arctic blasts over different parts of the country or world this winter season? Also, with lower pressure near Greenland over the past month or two, could that be contributing to the lower pressure across the south-central Atlantic and more than normal shear for this time of year leading to less intense tropical systems? It may not be the complete story, but it could be a big factor."
After decades of global warming, the Northwest Passage 60% more Arctic ice this year than at the same time last year. This is in turn threatening the future dreams of dozens of adventurous sailors. At least 22 yachts and other vessels are in the Arctic at the moment, and it is unclear if the Canadian government is going to dispatch an icebreaker to rescue any of them.
Six years ago, the BBC reported that the Arctic would be ice-free by summer 2013
Instead, days before the annual autumn re-freeze is due to begin, an unbroken ice sheet more than half the size of Europe already stretches from the Canadian islands to Russia’s northern shores.”
Cool. What a shot. It originally broke off in 2012 but hasn't melted because its still in the fridgid arctic waters. It ran into the bottom of the ocean and broke into 2 pieces and bunch of Ice Bergs now. But they know how deep it is now. Cool story,.
" The Manhattan-sized ice island that last year broke free of Petermann Gletscher in North Greenland plowed into the bottom and broke apart. Force equals mass times acceleration. When 18 giga tons (mass) of moving ice crashes into the ocean’s bottom 200 meters below the surface (acceleration), then something gotta give. And give it did, as this single ice island is now at least 2 ice islands and a number of large icebergs. It does not take much speed for a heavy truck running into your parked car to demolish it. Something gotta give, your car, or in this case, the ice island shattering into pieces. Here is the piece, about twice the size of Manhattan by area"
"We saw it last year as we entered Petermann Fjord by ship as the ice island left the same fjord to drift into Nares Strait. It then sailed towards Kane Basin where it got stuck for much of the 2012/13 winter to help keep the ice arch across Nares Strait more stable than it has been in a long time."
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