Humor4u

Earlier this year, on February 25, Antarctic sea ice extent was at an all-time record low of 1.924 million km², as the above image shows. Throughout the year, Antarctic sea ice extent has been low. On December 14, 2022, Antarctic sea ice was merely 9.864 million km² in extent. Only in 2016 was Antarctic sea ice extent lower at that time of year, and - importantly - 2016 was a strong El Niño year. The NOAA image on the right indicates that, while we're still in the depths of a persistent La Niña, the next El Niño looks set to strike soon. Meanwhile, ocean heat content keeps rising due to high levels of greenhouse gases, as illustrated by the image on the right.  Rising ocean heat causes sea ice to melt from below, resulting in less sea ice, which in turn means that less sunlight gets reflected back into space and more sunlight gets absorbed as heat in the ocean, making it a self-reinforcing feedback loop that further speeds up sea ice loss.  The currently very rapid decline...

Arctic sea ice extent was 5.88 million km² on August 21, 2022, larger in extent than in any of the years from 2010 through 2021 at this time of year, as illustrated by the NSIDC image below.  At first glance, one might think that this relatively large extent was a sign of healthy sea ice. After all, the larger the sea ice, the more sunlight gets reflected back into space. At the same time, however, the situation is very dangerous, as there is a growing risk that large eruptions of methane will occur from the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean. Why is the situation so dangerous? There are many contributors to the danger, three of them are: 1. Ice acts as a seal Ice acts as a seal, insulating the soil from warmer air and holding the soil together, like a glue. A 2022 study by Elizabeth Webb et al. concludes that rainwater carries heat into the soil and accelerates permafrost thaw, and the glue that holds the soil together disappears. This can open up underground channels that drain the s...

Ocean currents keep pushing heat toward the Arctic Ocean Arctic sea ice is getting very thin, as temperatures keep rising and ocean currents keep pushing heat toward the Arctic, as illustrated by the  NOAA image  below that shows sea surface temperatures as high as 33°C or 91.4°F on August 13, 2022.  The Gulf Stream is an ocean current that extends into the Arctic Ocean, as pictured below and discussed at this page . This ocean current is driven by the Coriolis force and by prevailing wind patterns.  [ from  earlier post  ] This ocean current contributes to the stronger and accelerating warming of the Arctic (compared to the rest of the world), which in turn causes deformation of the  Jet Stream  that can at times cause strong winds to speed up this ocean current. The image below shows the Jet Stream over the North Atlantic, where the ocean current dives under the sea ice. Sea surface temperature anomalies are much lower over the area where...