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Arctic Watch

Multi-year, full-year Arctic sea ice data:

29 October 2009: The graph below is not for the average punter. It is an overlay or mash up of two graphs taken from the Colorado University's National Snow and Ice Data Center website - specifically their Arctic pages. The 2009 Arctic melt season, driven by the northern warm season, has just passed its peak and the ice growth has started again. The graph below gives an idea of how the current 2009 Arctic melt compares with 2007 (the current world record melt year), and with 2008 & 2005. The 2009 peak ice melt now stands as the third biggest on record.
The previous year - 26 September 2008: The graph below gives an idea of how the 2008 Arctic melt compared with 2007 (the current world record) and 2005 and 2006. 2008 is now the second biggest melt in recorded human history. The amazing, record breaking rate of loss of sea ice, very late in the melt season, meant that the 2008 melt came close to catching up with the 2007 melt. The 2008 point of minimum ice extent was 12th September. An explanation of why 2008 differed from 2007 can be found at: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2008/092408.html
The graphs below shows the Arctic sea-ice extent at the minimum last year (25 September 07) and one day before the 2008 minimum (15 September 2008).
2007	2008
100 year trend in Arctic sea ice The graph below suggests that the systematic Arctic ice melt perhaps began in the early 1950s. You can get the graph from: http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seasonal.extent.1900-2007.jpg
See also: German AMSR-E website showing frequently updated maps and animations of the Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice. http://www.arcus.org/search/seaiceoutlook/ The SEARCH Sea Ice Outlook is an international effort to provide a community-wide summary of the expected September arctic sea ice minimum. Monthly reports released throughout the summer synthesize community estimates of the current state and expected minimum of sea ice http://www.ijis.iarc.uaf.edu/en/home/seaice_extent.htm The Cryosphere Today site (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) The Extreme Ice Survey Site showing timelapse photography of the extreme decline of glacial ice in many parts of the world, including the Arctic/Greenland. Also see the TED interview and great preview of the timelapse photography

What the Arctic might be like some time in the next 10 years, in late summer

For campaigns to restore the Arctic ice see:

Climate Emergency Network

Target 300

Beyond Zero Emissions
(for a practical plan for zero emissions in 10 years plus CO2 draw down)

Information on both poles, including Antarctica

Climate indicators for the poles:

Polar climate indicators from NSIDC

Most recent daily sea ice conditions

Information on Antarctica - sea ice loss and loss of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

More information:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227036.400-driller-thriller-antarcticas-tumultuous-past-revealed.html?full=true

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v458/n7236/abs/nature07809.html

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