This came to me via a tip, but to be honest I get so many daily emails and comments I’ve lost the original source of the tip.
This is via the Canadian Ice Service, and it’s a view I have not seen before. It shows a polar view looking down at the North pole which is a composite of several days worth of MODIS views via NASA Goddard to create a Composite of the Arctic image. The actual image is very high resolution and I can’t show it fully here, but the detail is quite good. To help orient you, I’ve annotated some landmarks on this preview image.
You can see the full image here, and click the image again to zoom in on it. The sheer magnitude of area covered by ice and snow is quite impressive, and it’s a useful image to show to “I read the headline only” alarmists who believe that the North pole is either burning up, missing most of its ice and snow, or both.
I’d love to include this on the WUWT sea ice page, but unfortunately, Environment Canada has chosen to produce this image from a Perl Script, rather than an image URL, and I have no way that I know of to parse the most current image out of the URL:
http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/cgi-bin/getprod.pl?prodid=MODISCOM-T&wrap=0&lang=en
If anyone has any ideas, please leave a comment.
Honestly, the alarmists will be more interested in the finger of blue near the North Pole than the two feet of snow in Wisconsin in April.
Anthony, How does this look?
OK not much better than yours 🙂
Well at least you have it as a .jpg file, rather than a URL with a .pl on the end. For it to work on my end, we need a URL that serves the JPG from the source, so that when the image changes, the image in the Sea Ice Page changes.
Well full sized version can be found here “https://rogerfromnewzealand.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/arctic-ice-2018-22.png” I have put it in quotes in case it jams your site. Hope this helps.
Sorry I cant help with the interactive.
Looks like a proprietary product designed to resist real-time reproduction. You need script that renames the downloaded images for wordpress. The original image size (3902×4106) might also be more than is practical.
Nothing unusual about open water in the Barents Sea.
Courtesy of the North Atlantic Drift, extreme reach of the Gulf Stream.
“Nothing unusual about open water in the Barents Sea.”
Or anywhere else in the Arctic, any time of year. Weather moves ice => open water.
Icepilot,
Yes, tragically and inviting open lead is what led the Franklin Expedition to its doom.
Do our resident sea ice fretters realize that less than 40 years after the ‘year without a summer’ folks were attempting to navigate the northern passage, drawn by the lure of open water only to have weather doom their attempts?
Don’t forget that the USS Skate surfaced at the North Pole during winter.
“While the Skate was unable to surface on its first voyage to the pole, on 17 March 1959, she became the first submarine to surface at the North Pole with Calvert describing the historic moment in his book, saying, “Slowly we blew the tanks and the Skate moved reluctantly upward. It was apparent we were under heavier ice here than any we had experienced before.” While at the pole, Calvert and the crew planted an American Flag in a cairn they built out of ice blocks and put a waterproof container in the cairn with a note commemorating the event. The crew also held a ceremony for the late Arctic explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins and committed his ashes at the pole. In 1931, Sir Hubert had conducted an Arctic expedition in the disarmed research submarine Nautilus (ex-USS O-12). After reaching the Pole, the Skate continued its mission to pioneer arctic operations during periods of extreme cold and maximum ice thickness. When the submarine returned to port, she was awarded a bronze star in lieu of a second Navy Unit Commendation for demonstrating “… for the first time the ability of submarines to operate in and under the Arctic ice in the dead of winter….”
https://archive.org/details/20184AtSeaWithTheUSSSkate
“In August the Arctic was at its bland best, with continual daylight and temperatures above freezing. Cruising under the 10-foot-thick ice pack, we repeatedly had found open water where we could surface.
Now in March the Arctic was at its worst. There would be only partial daylight, the temperature would average 30 deg below zero, and the welcoming leads (elongated cracks in the ice) and polynyas (larger, lakelike bodies of water) would in all probability be sealed. But we hoped to prove conclusively that arctic submarine operations are possible at all times of the year. We were going back, and what was more, we intended to surface.”
https://books.google.de/books?id=YEgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=skate+1959+arctic+journeys&source=bl&ots=Q3SNvUY9j0&sig=GBb9WYXOOntQ_VvyWeDr7uueJ6s&hl=de&ei=r0ClS4v_DsvDsgb8w_3JCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=true
John
So what is your point? Are you trying to say the ice back then was not as substantial as now, because if you are, the fact that the submarine surfaced proves nothing.
Funny how important a single data point can become, depending on whether it supports or undermines your point.
Simon, I was replying to renbutler’s comment “the finger of blue near the North Pole”. As USN Commander (James Calvert) observed there were numerous “elongated cracks in the ice” and “polynyas” which he hoped would have thin ice cover for him to surface at the pole during his winter voyage.
BTW, I didn’t realize you were acting as a grumpy site moderator.
[The mods are not grumpy.
Unless their coffee is cold.
Or their cup empty.
Or both.
Or their mug is only half-full. .mod]
FYI – Subs don’t surface thru multiyear ice (the ice that survives the summer), only first year ice. The recently frozen seawater is consistent, flat as a pool table & rarely exceeds six feet. It’s also much weaker, since the salt has yet to migrate out of the ice. Multiyear ice turns that aqua blue of fresh water, because it is. Two inches of fresh water ice will hold a person. That takes six inches of frozen seawater … & you don’t want to stand in the same spot for too long.
You could always display the image on your screen as large as possible, then do a screen capture to the clipboard (Alt-PrtSc), open your favorite photo editing tool, paste in the image, crop it to remove extraneous window frames and such, save it as a JPG, then upload to WordPress. It wouldn’t have all the original detail or resolution, but it would be good enough to get the message across, and you could still link to the original.
Anthony- Download and install Irfanview if you don’t already have it (you’ll love it). Save the file as a .pl file and open it in Irfanview. There will be an error message that the file a .jpg that has an incorrect file extension. Let it rename the file and save it. viola!
Here is your Jpeg file:
“Canadian Ice Service”
Sounds like a company that leases Zambonis or something.
I uploaded a 2 megabyte file and it’s reduced to 92 KB here on wordpress, bummer.
Pop, I call them when my drink gets warm while watching hockey playoffs. Take off, eh!
Right-click the image, click save as, will download as pl file. open folder on desktop right-click image, rename as a gif file. Walla.
If I do that, Irfanview tags it as the wrong file extension again. Irfanview is free, easier to use than Photoshop and will use many photoshop add-ins.
https://www.irfanview.com/main_download_engl.htm
Sorry to be pedantic, but the word is not “Walla,” it is “Voila,” with a grave accent over the “a”.
and to be more pedantic, if you are going to point out that it is it wrong you might as well point out how to spell it the right wrong.
“wa-lah”
I do not think you are really sorry at all.
Anthony, I just sent you an email. its from my job (bank mail server in Colorado)
It’s a JPEG.
Anthony, I just sent you an email. its from my job (bank mail server in Colorado)
It’s a JPEG.
I think you just put the url in your sea ice page. be sure to scale the image. I assume the image changes daily or something. Of course they may not want you to link to it externally so you may need a script to download a fresh copy daily.
hm it removes the url I send, trying again:
src=”http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/cgi-bin/getprod.pl?prodid=MODISCOM-T&wrap=0&lang=en” width=”50″ height=”50
You realise that when all that ice melts it will alter the salinity of the Ocean and stop the Gulf Stream.
This is a vision of the day after tomorrow’s disaster!!!
Don’t forget it will also expose the “dark ocean” and heat it up like a mall parking lot.
Stop the Amazon that way, no need for pesky dams
Dogs and Cats, Living together! Etc. etc.
Emailed it to you, Anthony. MODIS is a good imager. Only two were built. They are on the Aqua and Terra satellites.
Good image. How many wadhams is that?
13. RECORD LOWEST for the date for the satellite period. From JAXA:
https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2223.0;attach=99720;image
they are all over the place….
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/plots/icecover/icecover_current_new.png
“for the satellite period”
You say that is if it meant something.
Not according to NOAA.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/charctic-interactive-sea-ice-graph/
Arctic sea ice minimum extent has been growing since 2012, after falling from its near-century high in 1979. Meanwhile, Antarctic sea ice grew from 1979 to its record high in 2014. So increasing CO2 explains neither observation. Sea ice grew from the late ’40s to late ’70s despite rising CO2.
As with so many climatic phenomena, sea ice fluctuates in ~30 year cycles. Nothing the least bit out of the ordinary is happening with global climate.
“they are all over the place….”
Except higher.
“Arctic sea ice minimum extent has been growing since 2012, after falling from its near-century high in 1979.”
The linked graph doesn’t show that at all.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/charctic-interactive-sea-ice-graph/
Got any evidence?
Arctic sea-ice volume has crashed and global sea-ice area is also way below the average. Looks to be 4σ and past a tipping point.
Keep up fellas.
I not only have evidence, I have NOAA’s own NSIDC Charctic charts and data:
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/charctic-interactive-sea-ice-graph/
Minima:
2012: 3.387 million km^2
2013: 5.064
2014: 5.029
2015: 4.433
2016: 4.139
2017: 4.636
Clearly you have not been watching sea ice for the past decade.
Where ice is now doesn’t signify, as we keep having to teach each new CACA Koolaid drinker who shows up here. If in fact you are different drinkers.
zaza….how much ice should be in the Arctic?
There are always freak weather events, such as the summer cyclones which produced the low years of 2007, 2012 and 2016, but odds are that the 2012 record won’t be broken for about 55+/- years.
The five year average for 2008-12 was also lower than for 2013-17, IIRC. The trend is definitely up.
Sorry. Please try to keep up to date. Thanks.
Also, the trend line for the past 11 years, ie 2007-17, is up.
Chimp, the minima for the last three years are lower than the previous 2, so how can you say the area is growing?
Because all of these are greater than the 2007 and 2012 minimums.
By the way, less Arctic sea ice at spring maximum = More heat loss to space from the newly-exposed Arctic ocean.
Less Arctic sea ice at fall (September) minimum = More heat loss to space from the newly-exposed Arctic ocean.
Less Arctic sea ice at winter = More heat loss to space from the newly-exposed Arctic ocean.
It is only those few short weeks between mid-April and mid-August that more short wave solar energy is absorbed by the exposed Arctic Ocean than is lost from the open Arctic ocean by increased convection, long-wave radiation, and evaporation.
Krisiti, and they are all bigger than 2012, so how can you say it is not growing?
BTW, the recent years are recovering from an El Nino, which always is a big ice melter.
Kristi
This is another way to look at the ice. The ice today is clearly thicker than it was 10 years ago. Let’s see if it presages a recovery with the sea ice extent expanding as well.
http://notrickszone.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Arctic-ice-volume-2018-April-2008-comparison.png
Kristi Silber April 19, 2018 at 6:36 pm
I’m glad you asked.
The record low of 2012 was an historic low of the natural ~30 year cycle. Its like is unlikely to be seen again for decades, barring an extreme random WX event.
The five years after that low were the first such interval since 1979 in which a new, lower low was not made. The five years after that record low averaged higher than the five years containing that record low.
By whatever statistical prestidigitation you want to use, Arctic sea ice is growing. The anomalous low of 2016 owed to yet another Arctic WX phenomenon, as in 2007 and 2012, but this time boosted by the super El Nino. The huge rebound in 2013 and 2014 owed to so much heat having been blown off in 2012.
There is no CO2 signal in sea ice. Fat Albert Gore’s question, if not man, then what accounts for declining Arctic sea ice after 1979 has been answered exactly as we pro-science skeptics always said it would be, ie natural variation. Arctic sea ice is still way above its average for the Holocene.
Where is the crash of sea ice volume? According to Danish research institutions like DMI the 2018 sea ice volume was in line with 2016 & 2017. Since march it is increasing sharply.
http://polarportal.dk/en/sea-ice-and-icebergs/sea-ice-thickness-and-volume/
“Arctic sea-ice volume has crashed ”
Here are the only existing measurements of sea-ice volume:
http://www.cpom.ucl.ac.uk/csopr/sidata/thk_ts_0.large.png?version=1
Doesn’t look like much of a crash to me….
Nice polar shot! Does this mean I should get more frozen pot pies ASAP
Eskimo Pies too!
Sara! Whatever floats your boat, nowadays I guess. I didn’t know they were putting pot in pies now!
It is 420 day today in California, the day it became legal.
Here is a spot which I have been watching for the last year. I chose the location as it was a boundary line for some time between colder arctic waters, and warmer waters to the east. That has now changed since January of this year where the sst has changed from 33 C on Jan 1st to 28.8 C current as of today. This is the coldest temps at this location since I have been keeping track. Imo, this is an important sea change as it could well herald the return of the missing sea ice which has been gone from this area for some years now. … https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/primary/waves/overlay=sea_surface_temp/orthographic=3.90,78.61,672/loc=45.390,75.522
Do you 33F and 28.8F?
Yes, I meant to say Fahrenheit. I didn’t sleep well last night, and this mistake was a result.
True, there has been unusually much ice in this area this winter. On the other hand there has been less ice than usual north of Svalbard, so it could be that the western branch of the Gulf Stream is stronger and the eastern weaker this year.
goldminor,
I really like the nullschool site, but don’t always understand it. I get that the color scale is showing cooler to warmer, but is there a temperature scale that it correlates with? For example, which area/color are you looking at that represents 28.8 (~29) °F?
You get the temp/wind/moisture content at any spot by clicking on any given location. For ocean temps you have to click on oceans and then either sst/ssta for the readout. The spot marked. Here is the boundary spot which I have been observing for a few years. …https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/primary/waves/overlay=sea_surface_temp/orthographic=3.90,78.61,672/loc=45.390,75.522
goldminor,
Got it, thanks for the response. I look at this site just about any time someone posts something about it, but do not know all the ins-and-outs. Thanks for an additional tidbit of information.
I keep it tabbed to my upper toolbar and run it from time to time to get a better idea of incoming weather for our region, along with satellite/radar composite at Accuweather. Still playing around with the different functions.
@ur momisugly Phil and 2hotel9 …I have a folder with around 18 links which allow me to view what I consider as important spots to watch. I then save daily pics as screenshots to the appropriate folders. I now have a nice library which I can instantly reference as needed. It also allows me to respond in comments to where I can quickly point out that this is what happened on this day of the year at this spot on the globe.
Nice! I am only semi-computer literate so it takes me a bit to finger things out. I have several folders set up for hurricane tracking, other than that I just put science and climate links in a science&climate folder in bookmarks and then have to scroll through it looking for things. I ought to separate all the space related links into their own folder. By far the largest collection of items in folders I have is USG documents from Thomas Law Library and Library of Congress, plus piles of discs with same. Funny how when you go back to either source things change or disappear, almost as if they do not want people to follow what they have and are doing. I have 36 discs just of Obama Care crap.
I’m with you on the semi literate computer skills thing. I was a late comer to computers. Good organization using folders helps a good deal in being able to readily access information. It is especially helpful when one’s thoughts are flowing swiftly so that you don’t break your the thought stream.
I actively fought the computer age for quite a few years. My first computer experience was in early ’80s in US Army, and boy did they suck! Wasn’t until 1999 that I gave in and bought first computer, been banging away ever since. Got a laptop in 2002 and really got hooked. Used to do a lot of physical records research and can run micro fiche like nobody’s business, got a nasty lung infection from dust mites in GU’s old library annex. Now its all digital download, burn discs and run through cases of paper and printer ink. Oh, well, somebody has to keep track of what “they” are doing! : )
Anthony ==> This url will load the image as a jpg in a browser window:![]()
http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/cgi-bin/getprod.pl?prodid=MODISCOM-T&wrap=0&lang=en&format=jpg“> construct on the Sea Ice Page — maybe.
http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/cgi-bin/getprod.pl?prodid=MODISCOM-T&wrap=0&lang=en&format=jpg
I don’t think this solves your problem of needing a jpg to load under WordPress rules….
I think you can use the above URL in an
I’ll try that again:
WordPress shuttles all image requests through a process that disallows anything with ? attributes….chops them…decides they are illegal scripts or html.
A script on a local machine that downloads that URL as a jpg above and loads it to file location that can be accessed with a simple url ending in “.jpg” will do the job. (I don’t have a server that is available 24/7).
Canadian Ice Service, eh? I wonder if Climate Barbie has had a look at this.
Phantor48 …
Unless McKenna has called you something (like a Denier ).. I don’t think disparaging her in that way is helpful. She got the job because she is a competent zealot not because she resembles a stereotype.
It’s comforting, though, to realize she is forced to publicly support a pipeline from Alberta to the coast. That must burn both her zealotry and her activist sentiments. Such is life when you commit to activism through political office.
Well anybody that will work for a PM that fiddles as Rome(Canada) is burning deserves any epithet you want to hurl at her. My country is going down the tubes ( Ex: open warfare between 2 provinces which is still heating up) and the greenies are just staring at this as if zombies. See one of the latest WUWT articles about this.
“She got the job because she is a competent zealot not because she resembles a stereotype.”
Do you have proof, or even just hint, of that?
As long as everyone is disparaged just like she is, and such is the case, why would she got a free pass out of satire and mockery that every politician has to endure?
Now, I won’t use “climate barbie”. This is insult to barbie.
‘Competent’? You missed the prefix.
Isn’t a competent zealot itself a stereotype?
Her zealotry is suspect due to her established ability to stand in the background smiling while more senior cabinet ministers support the Trans Mountain pipeline. Her competence is suspect due to the fact that she doesn’t understand how fatally flawed Climate “science” is and she can’t make a case against O & G development. Barbie is all she has left.
She works very hard each day to keep that cultivated barbie look. She likes it.
Why would it be an insult to let her know that she is succeeding, in the area which she has worked hard, almost every morning for the last 10 years.
http://www.maxphoton.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/ice-capades.png
XLNT
You made me roar out loud with that one! Keep them coming!
The “Arctic Ice Keepers” use the Northern Pacific Ocean as part of the Arctic Ice. Now the Northern Pacific Ocean is South of the Bering Strait, Northern Siberia is not included, since it is land. One can only surmise that the “Arctic only includes water”, not a circle around the North Pole. Down South, they include an enormous “circle” around the South Pole.
“How deception is created”, I wish I had a book…
The Sun’s output is reduced. Wait until next year, and the year after, then lets talk!!!
There is no sea-ice on land. I wonder if Watts has the guts to post September’s version along side this one in a few months.
Now the troll is getting insulting, just because nobody else pays attention to it.
The sea ice pages are posted everyday with full history.
So your insults about courage fall low, just like your IQ.
Regardless, the current numbers don’t mean what you desperately (and ignorantly) want to believe they do.
Wow! Don’t understand the importance of springtime combined ice and snow cover, huh? I personally hope for an El Nino to bring me a cool summer and extended fall again. If early snows in the upper mid-latitudes come despite a warm winter in the arctic, I will consider that Joe Bastardi has much of this figured out.
Anthony has regularly posted sea ice pages since before 2008; and a few years ago, added a “Sea ice” page where one can get the most recent images.
Unlike those warmist sites that fail to update charts when the data is inconvenient; sometimes for years.
Here’s a sea ice chart for you:
http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icethickness/images/FullSize_CICE_combine_thick_SM_EN_20180418.png
zazove, you are a clown. if you followed this blog you would already know anthony never shies away from posting anything climate related. so much for the arctic amplification nonsense given what the ice has done post 2012. your links to supposed volume are nonsense. i don’t care how many holes they drill in the ice , anyone claiming they know arctic ice volume to any significant degree is a clown, just like you.
now the amo is past the peak arctic alarmism and its proponents are in for a rocky ride.
Only an idiot doesn’t know he maintains a sea ice page. Troll.
Like most religious zealots, zazove, you get testy when the basis for your superstition is questioned with logic and facts.
Zazy: You are free to return in Sept. (and apologize to our host) and find out on your own time. Even if Mr. Soros puts you on some other task, which he probably will do since your work here is not getting it done.
Wow, zazove, I thought you were serious. Maybe you’re just new and don’t know how to navigate this site.The links are on the right side of the articles/comments. Look for “Sea Ice Page”. You can also type F and enter “Sea Ice Page”. Try it! It’s pretty easy, but if you still have problems, you should be able to find a child who can help. I don’t find them all that bright, myself, but they can handle this problem,
On a slightly different note, here in Columbia, Maryland we are having day after day of fully overcast days. When you look at the AccuWeather forecast it only has ever predicted 2-3 full sunshine days for the whole month. And its been windy and cold.
Why the unusual overcast, is it happening elsewhere?
Baltimore, perhaps, but nowhere else is it cloudy.
Just kidding.
Its called weather.
Not kidding.
Damn sun won’t stop shining here in Western Canada! Even at night! ( But it is about 15C below normal and has been for two months)
Here in Florida we have had even more than our usual amount of nearly constant sunshine.
Since right after the hurricane.
Same as last year…sunny and dry.
It has rained about three times, none of them more than half an inch, since mid-September here in eastern Lee county.
I am hoping for some clouds one day soon.
Ice ball Earth…..
Who the hell cares about anything else, Scotland got a mention at last!
🙂
Goddam, you beat me to it, though I’m usually only there by parentage.
michael hart
Nonetheless, a Scot.
Shouldn’t you be off sharpenin’ yer claymore?
It’s been lookin’ like the haggis Commies are trying to get the best of you.
HotScot,
With a bit of ‘zoom’ on the hi def image, I do believe I can see the Isle of Colonsay!
My ancestors hailed from there…
HotScot, it’s about the only place that isn’t under ice. No wonder you guys can wear skirts!
John harmsworth
Distinct difference between a skirt and the Kilt.
Single piece of multi pleated tartan fabric, secured around the waist to form a double layer at the front Vs a hoop of single layer material.
The pleating gives us room to perform hazardous and intricate dances e.g. the famous sword dance.
The Kilt also has the enviable ability to attract members of the opposite sex who have been known to ask me “what’s worn under the Kilt” to which I always reply “there’s nothing worn under my Kilt, it’s all in perfect working order”.
🙂
John harmsworth
“Centuries ago, Highlanders not only hunted and fought in their plaid, they slept in it! The expression, “the whole 9 yards”, came from the amount of material (approx. 9 yards) used to outfit our hearty ancestors.”
I’m not sure I know of any skirts that use 9 Yards of material.
Once and for all, the Gulf Steam is a heat engine period. The Gulf Stream is driven by warm waters at the Equator and cold waters at the Poles. A heat engine, moving heat from hot to cold.
The fresh water happen 20,000 years ago when the “Mile High Club” melted. Yes, it changed the salinity also, duh.
Today, none, none, none, of that happens. HEAT ENGINE.
A curious thing, heat at the equator stays relatively constant. Heat near the poles varies. Quiet Sun, colder poles…more ice, duh.
They won’t tell you, but the Gulf Stream is 1/4 of what it was in 1900. Warming, due to the Sun, has raised the Arctic and Antarctic Ocean temperatures, BUT, not the temperatures at the equator. Less temperature differential, less flow.
Now the Sun is Quiet. How long? I hope it doesn’t get too cold, or joining the “Mile High Club” could have a totally different meaning….
jlurtz
That’s it, I’m moving south when I retire in 5 years!
jlurtz, I am sorry where is the data from 1900 Gulf Stream?
Edward: The Gulf Stream has been tracked (and discussed and re-discussed in ever greater detail) ever since Ben Franklin’s began analyzing it to recommend faster colonial ship tracking and planning to and from England.
No its a gravity engine driven by the earths rotation.
The gulf stream is driven by the trade winds.
It’s a public service from Al Gore.
Nope, it is augmented a little bit in places. The earths rotation does the heavy lifting
There is a strong current that runs from the southwest tip of Africa right up into the gulf of Mexico, and other water pushing into there from the east.
The rotation of the earth and the prevailing winds and all the water pushing it all along ensure a continued flow.
There is no where else for it to go.
And imagine the moment of inertia of all of that water.
It will stop when the Earth stops spinning and the wind stops blowing.
The idea that some fresh water will stop all of that water from moving is positively inane.
http://www.indiana.edu/%7Egeol105/images/gaia_chapter_4/oceancirculation.jpg
Before the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, that current from Africa could flow into the Pacific rather than being turned NE to run along the Atlantic coast of North America, thence across the ocean to Europe, carrying moisture with which to make ice sheets.
Yes, the closing of the Isthmus at Panama is perhaps the most cited reason for the onset of ice age conditions.
However this is not 100% accepted by everyone.
Although the timing seems correct, I have not personally seen a detailed explanation for how such a seemingly small change caused the entire planet to cool off, the deep ocean abysses to switch from warm to frigid, and permanent ice to form at both poles where before life had prospered.
I am not saying I disagree or have an alternative explanation of any refutation of this assertion.
Just that it is not exactly obvious how this closing led to such a drastic alteration of the planet.
But I think we can likely agree with some degree of certitude that, before it was the way it is now, it was different.
Typo:
…or any refutation…
Me,
There are lots of papers detailing how that should be.
But please bear in mind that Earth had already been in an Ice House phase since the formation of the Southern Ocean about 34 million years ago. The formation of the Isthmus just added ice sheets in the NH to those on Antarctica. The increase in albedo and other changes caused the whole globe further to cool as a result.
There have been attempts recently to challenge this standard explanation for the Pleistocene glaciations, but IMO none have been convincing. Here’s the standard hypothesis:
http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/how-the-isthmus-of-panama-put-ice-in-the-arctic
Chimp,
Thank you for this.
I will read it tonight.
Most welcome.
Old, but not totally outdated.
There has actually been a lot of scientific investigation and, dare I mention, computer modeling, around this question.
Some of the controversy centers on when precisely the oceanic circulation through the strait that used to exist between the two Americas would have been affected by the shoaling from tectonic forces.
The timing of the land connection is much less controversial, thanks to evidence from the inter-American exchange of terrestrial species.
Hmmm…I am not sure about this paper.
It is very long on suppositions and assertions, and short on evidence and consistency.
There seems to be some of what I would consider problematic assertions.
And I am not finding the entirety of it to be particularly factually and logically consistent.
Again, I am not disagreeing, but I think we both find that there are too many climate researchers who are committed to hammering a square theory into a round hole of facts, and I think that paleoclimatology suffers from the same lack of rigor and high standards of evidence and logic.
I am pretty tired, it is the middle of the night here.
I will try to get back tomorrow and explain a little better what my specific issues are.
Thanks again.
That is just what Arctic ice looks like when it’s getting ready to scream.
The colder they are, the louder they scream…once you get ’em warmed up.
The impressive Arctic image shows the main culprit with ice free regions only above the Norway side. Where the AMOC and warmer circulated ocean surface waters warm it up significantly compared with the rest of the Arctic region. Temperatures there well below freezing blown over that ice free region make no difference to the sea because it is warmed so much from below.
When the AMO becomes consistently negative and therefore the AMOC slows down more. This region will soon restore sea ice back again and change the cycle of generally continued declining Arctic sea ice to generally increasing Arctic sea ice.
Typo in first sentence Anthony.
Another one in the second paragraph as well.
“cab’t”
Give voice to text software a try. It is fun and entertaining.
It is all cleaned up now.
…looks damn cold!
A wee iinconvenient truth.