I have restarted updating my Arctic Update Page which went into hibernation in late September, 2010 after the Sea Ice minimum was reached. I continue to be concerned about the rapid Arctic Sea ice decline, I see it as one of many threads of evidence on the serious consequences of global warming.
1/16/11 Update
After a break, I have restarted daily updates to my Arctic Update page. I will start slowly,with just 4 charts and limited discussion. I will be adding additional charts and analysis as the year unfolds.
Arctic SIE Trend for Latest Month
December, 2010 showed the lowest SIE in the1979-2010 period.
Day-of-year Comparison
Here’s a detailed chart that shows the daily JAXA SIE data for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 so far this year. (Click to enlarge)
The January, 2011 SIE is lower than 2007, the previous low year.
Current Month Daily Arctic Sea Ice Trend
Cryosphere Today Sea Ice Area Anomaly Trends
The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC)’s The Cryosphere Today (link) tracks Arctic sea ice extent and area on a daily basis, They maintain a chart called of daily sea ice area anomalies extending back to 1979. They call it the Tail of the Tape. Since it is so long, it can be difficult to read (link).
I have developed this chart to display the data in a single window so that readers can see the entire record in one glance. The Cryosphere Today chart shows the data in more detail, my chart gives a better overview of the long term SIA anomaly trends. (Click to enlarge)
