#Arctic climate rankings are now in for February 2025: https://zacklabe.com/archive-2025/. This was a historic month for the region with record warm conditions and record low sea ice relative to any prior February.
Friday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the lowest on record (JAXA data)...
• about 500,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 990,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,380,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 1,910,000 km² below the 1980s mean
Other plots: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-extentconcentration/
Nearly all areas of the #Arctic have observed thinning ice over the last four decades. Trends in March are largest in the vicinity of the East Siberian Sea and north of Greenland.
Data simulated from PIOMAS. For more info: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0436.1
I just updated my #Arctic sea-ice thickness and volume graphics for February 2025 using PIOMAS data: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-volumethickness/
This month was the 2nd lowest February volume on record.
Over the whole month of February, average temperatures around the North Pole (80-90 degrees North) were around 12°C above the 1951-1980 average!
https://fediscience.org/@ZLabe/114156999916361917
#globalwarming #ClimateChange #arctic #seaice
Temperature anomalies by latitude band in February 2025. Pay close attention to the magnitude of this warmth in the #Arctic (x-axis). This is really jaw-dropping.
[Latitude = y-axis (not scaled by distance). Data from NASA GISS (GISTEMPv4) using a 1951-1980 climate baseline]
Military Challenges and Opportunities in the Arctic https://www.byteseu.com/824904/ #Arctic #Canada #Geopolitics #Russia #UnitedStates
Evolution of February #Arctic sea ice and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies during the satellite-era...
A summary of last month can be found from the NSIDC: https://nsidc.org/sea-ice-today/analyses/february-made-me-shiver-not-arctic
*SST data set (OISSTv2.1) is only available since about 1982
Check out this perspective of the anomalous warmth in the #Arctic from last month, which really highlights its large amplitude. Temperature variability is smaller in summer due to thermodynamic processes related to sea ice melt.
Graph from https://zacklabe.com/arctic-temperatures/. Data from ERA5 reanalysis.
'You look up and see light coming through': The divers venturing under the ice in the name of science.
There is a 70cm-thick layer of ice capping the surface of this lake, in a remote corner of Lapland, northern Finland.
It is a world cut off from our own by thick blankets of floating ice, but some scientists are taking the plunge to learn how these frozen depths are changing.
Greenland’s independence debate intensifies ahead of elections.
Greenland has had enough – of Denmark, of Trump and of the journalists who have been coming to Nuuk for weeks.
A reckoning in three acts.
Greenland’s independence debate intensifies ahead of elections.
Greenland has had enough – of Denmark, of Trump and of the journalists who have been coming to Nuuk for weeks.
A reckoning in three acts.
Looking at temperature anomalies over the last month (left), 3 months (center), and 12 months (right) across the #Arctic... Yikes!
Data from https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.f17050d7
A look at a reconstruction of #Arctic sea ice extent since the year 1850 during the month of February...
Data from @nsidc.bsky.social: https://nsidc.org/data/g10010/versions/2
Have a great week! Here's your Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the lowest on record (JAXA data)...
• about 490,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,070,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,450,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 1,920,000 km² below the 1980s mean
Additional graphs: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-extentconcentration/
My monthly #Arctic temperature graphics have just been updated through February 2025, which was one of the most anomalous months on record for this region: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-temperatures/
Most of the #Arctic is experiencing warming temperatures over the last four decades in March. This is largest in the Barents Sea region and corresponds to losses of sea ice cover (turbulent fluxes).
Data from @CopernicusECMWF ERA5. For more info: https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0101.1
Sea ice in the Bering Sea continues to slowly increase but remains well below the 1991-2020 median in NSIDC data. Main storm rack in the next week looks to remain along Aleutians and southern Bering Sea so some increases in extent are likely. #akwx #Arctic #SeaIce @Climatologist49 @ZLabe
ARCTIC
Arctic Powers Boost Military Presence
Russia dominates with 100K troops & 40+ bases. US has 25K troops, expanding Arctic fleet. Canada invests $1.86B in Arctic defense hubs. Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden reinforce Arctic patrols.
#idw The Unforseen Effects of Melting #Glaciers on #Arctic Coastal #Ecosystems
Researchers found that #climatechange induced glacial melt increases the heavy metal content and changes the microbiome of habitat-forming brown algae in Arctic fjords. As algae are at the basis of the food web, this will likely have cascading ecological and economic consequences. https://idw-online.de/en/news848649 German: https://idw-online.de/de/news848647
