r/ClimateNews

PIOMAS: "PIOMAS Arctic Sea Ice Volume."

I met Andy Lee Robinson more than a few years ago, online that is. Last I heard he was in England. I do remember I paid him in British pounds sterling [£] for the lifetime privilege of using this image. This graph begins in 1979. Pertinent in comprehending this is realizing several points.

First, sea ice forms on the ocean surface, with contributions both from the salty ocean surface + fresh snowfall. Separate from the ice floes calving off tide-water glaciers.

Second, April—the light green line—is the maximum extent of sea ice, the end of Arctic winter of course. 

Third, September—the black line—is the minimum extent of sea ice, in this case coincident with the end of Arctic summer. 

The pictures you have often seen of the fluctuating surface area of Arctic sea ice represent just that, while this graph is a measure of total volume, more pertinent in understanding climate effects. When + where sea ice disappears, more dark blue ocean water absorbs far more solar energy, which is a main reason that the Arctic is warming up faster than the world as a whole.

It should be apparent to the naked eye where all of this is headed, with huge implications for geoscience, fishing, extinctions, navigation, territorial claims, seafloor mining, extraction of fossil fuels—and the survival of whales. Yes, whales, since with dwindling sea ice, pods of orcas have migrated north to predate on Arctic whales such as belugas + narwhales. 

I post this every couple of years, + suggest somber contemplation.

Fires across all of Northern Canada, image from fire.airnow.gov

From the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/en/ 109 new fires just today

The total number of fires just passed the 10 moving average

Good news is in the YTD statistics the total amount burned is still below the moving averages historically. Though the upward trend is very clear in this data.

A lot of new fires just started in Northern Canada over the last few weeks. Looking at the fire.airnow.gov map and zooming in on northern Manitoba, Alberta or Quebec is quite scary, hundreds in decently small areas and somehow very equally spaced. The good news is the total amount of acres burned is below the running averages right now, but the total number of fires just passed previous years which may indicate a sharp uptick in the amount of actively burning areas we may see this summer.