Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
We are slightly above last year's record-obliterating ice coverage for this time of year, but far below any other year on record, and still dropping.
As tanada points out, it's all about the cloud coverage now till polar night kicks in. Interesting indeed.
The last decade in the Arctic has been so starkly different that it is easy to forget how recent these massive losses became a frequent phenomenom.
Looking back at the tale of the tape we can clearly see that 1994 was the last year with a high average through most of the year and march 2003 was the last time we actually exceeded average ice cover at any time during the year. Since around mid April 2003 the record shows we have been below the long term ice cover average and the trend has continued downward.
While any graph will show natural variation over tuime if you look at this one in its entirety you will see that the high years are almost all early on in the series and they never exceed 1 million over average ice cover, while on the below average side from September 1996 to present the graph has been averaging on a steadily lower level.
Starting in 2001 and every year since the graph shows that Arctic ice cover has at least briefly dipped more than 1 million below the long term average, and by 2005 it was dipping below the 1.5 million under average. Even if this year does not meet or exceed last years 3 million below average I am now confident it will exceed 2 million below average which only happened the first time last summer. _________________ Always appeal to a man's enlightened self interest, you can trust him to look out for himself honestly, It's when you appeal to his Honor or the Common Good that he stops paying attention.
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:33 am Post subject: Re: Record Ice Loss in Arctic 2008
Well put, as usual, tanada. Even if we don't break last years phenomenal record, this year is seeing stunning reduction from the records over the last few decades.
These are many of the reasons that I find the tale of the tape chart to be among the most useful both day to day (it seems to be updated every two days or so) and for the longer perspective (that is in terms of decades, not millennia). I sometimes mark a piece of paper to do more precise comparisons between years at particular times, though doubtless there is some higher-tech way of doing this.
Joined: Mar 26, 2005 Posts: 3904 Location: over here
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:16 am Post subject: Re: Record Ice Loss in Arctic 2008
here's an interesting little sidenote:
Quote:
A Canadian team is to search for two ships lost in an 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage.
The British ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were trapped in the Arctic ice as Sir John Franklin sought a northern route from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
He and his 128 crew died - although their exact fate remains a mystery - and the ships were never found.
Quote:
Retreating Arctic ice has made the Northwest Passage much more accessible and Canada is also using the search as a way of asserting its sovereignty over the region.
BBC news _________________ "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."
Shortly so to will the NE passage, via Siberia, open up. It's probably open now.
How many mega years ago this this dual event last happen? Even last year with the massive record breaking Arctic polar ice cap melt, this dual NW/NE passage opening didn't happen
We live in amazing, interesting and worrying times.
We seem to be ust barely above last year's coverage at this point, and dropping fast. Maybe it'll suddenly bounce back up, but there's a lot of thin ice out there. This gives a whole new planetary meaning to skating on thin ice.
We seem to be about 200km^2 above last year and still dropping fast. There is a LOT of holey / patchy / feathery ice up there which may not last much longer. Last year the melt edges were much more solid.
Joined: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 1185 Location: Richmond, VA, Pale Blue Dot
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 11:30 pm Post subject: Re: Record Ice Loss in Arctic 2008
GregWatson wrote:
There is a LOT of holey / patchy / feathery ice up there which may not last much longer.
Holey melting ice batman...
(couldn't resist) _________________ "If you are a real seeker after truth, it's necessary that at least once in your life you doubt all things as far as possible"-Rene Descartes
"When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be the truth"-Sherlock Holmes
Joined: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 1185 Location: Richmond, VA, Pale Blue Dot
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:50 am Post subject: Re: Record Ice Loss in Arctic 2008
GregWatson wrote:
When did this last happen?
I'd say even though we may not break the record, both passages opened is even more major since it didn't even happen last year (not to mention ever in recorded history). We are close enough to the record to indicate that the trend of ice loss is accelerating anyway. _________________ "If you are a real seeker after truth, it's necessary that at least once in your life you doubt all things as far as possible"-Rene Descartes
"When you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be the truth"-Sherlock Holmes
Joined: Apr 28, 2005 Posts: 3920 Location: West shore Lake Eire, MI, USA
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 5:05 am Post subject: Re: Record Ice Loss in Arctic 2008
If all that slushy 30% ice goes in the next few days we will meet last years record, if not freezing will soon equal melt just because of the time of the year. Either way 2008 is already the second lowest ice on record for the Arctic.
How people can look at this and say it means nothing is beyond my understanding. _________________ Always appeal to a man's enlightened self interest, you can trust him to look out for himself honestly, It's when you appeal to his Honor or the Common Good that he stops paying attention.
The Register has just published an article basicaly claiming that the NSIDC are fudging the graphs they publish. I notice they did not bother to ask the people who published the graph for an opinion or gave them an opertunity to respond.
The Register has just published an article basicaly claiming that the NSIDC are fudging the graphs they publish. I notice they did not bother to ask the people who published the graph for an opinion or gave them an opertunity to respond.
Quote:
The 30 per cent increase was calculated by counting pixels which contain colors representing ice. This is a conservative calculation, because of the map projection used. As the ice expands away from the pole, each new pixel represents a larger area - so the net effect is that the calculated 30 per cent increase is actually on the low side.
So they count all pixels as representing 100% ice, no matter whether that pixel actually represents 10%, 100% or somewhere in between. Then call that a conservative calculation!!!
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