Antarctica

[Lewis]

Antarctica just logged its hottest temperature on record from an Argentinian research station (northern tip of Antartica Peninsula) with a thermometer reading of +18.3C (65F). Last record was in 2015 at +17.5C. These warming in the Arctic and Antartica is happening much faster than global average and will continue to accelerate.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/07/antarctica-logs-hottest-temperature-on-record-with-a-reading-of-183c

Edited February 25 by Friends just call me Ross

[Lewis]

Up until august 30th 2021, sea ice extent was growing very strongly at around 200k+ a day as average for the first 8 months of 2021, then on august 30th (3 weeks earlier than average) it stopped and melt season started. Sea ice extent went from 38th lowest to 3rd lowest on record as of today and continues to decline in sea ice extent. Melt season for Antarctica usually ends in February.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Lewis

[Lewis]

A very high probability of lowest Ice minimum ever in Antarctica in recorded history. Melt seasons ends by end of February. 

 

So far Sea Ice Area is lowest ever

 

and sea ice extent is 3rd, another 180k of melt and will be lowest minimum ever, averaging about 30k a day of melt right now, so technically in a week if it continues it will be a record in history.

[Lewis]

Sea ice extent reached 2nd lowest today.

[Lewis]

Sea Ice extent reached 1st, another 62k to break 2017 record.

[Lewis]

9k more to tie 2017 record, or 10k more for lowest sea ice extent ever recorded in the 44 year satellite record.

 

Really amazes me the influence that humans have on the earth causing all these issues that continue to contribute to earths decline. I know Jehovah wont allow the earth to be destroyed but witnessing it is really breathtaking.

[Lewis]

It’s official.

 

Antarctica Sea ice area reached lowest in the 44 year satellite record on Feb 18th 2022 beating 1993 record low minimum.

Antarctica Sea ice extent reached lowest in the 44 year satellite record on Feb 19th 2022 beating 2017 record low minimum.

 

Two records in same year, wow.

[Lewis]

East Antarctica Conger Ice Shelf completely collapsed on March 15th due to the extreme temperature change that happened that week.

 

Conger Ice Shelf was as big as New York City or Rome, in size comparison.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/25/satellite-data-shows-entire-conger-ice-shelf-has-collapsed-in-antarctica

 

 

 

[Lewis]

Weird stall in Antarctica sea ice growth recorded, not normal for this to happen at this time of year.

 

[Lewis]

On 2/19/2022 at 10:44 PM, Lewis said:

It’s official.

 

Antarctica Sea ice area reached lowest in the 44 year satellite record on Feb 18th 2022 beating 1993 record low minimum.

Antarctica Sea ice extent reached lowest in the 44 year satellite record on Feb 19th 2022 beating 2017 record low minimum.

 

Two records in same year, wow.

Science Article regarding the record low sea ice in Antarctica

 

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL098904

Abstract

On 25 February 2022 Antarctic sea ice extent (SIE) dropped to a satellite-era record low level of 1.92 × 10⁶ km², 0.92 × 10⁶ km² below the long-term mean. The area of sea ice was also at a record low level of 1.24 × 10⁶ km². Although no individual sector was at a record low, at the minimum there were negative sea ice anomalies in all sectors of the Southern Ocean, with the largest in the Ross (contributing 46%) and Weddell Seas (26%). The Amundsen Sea Low had a record low depth in October/November 2021, with a series of very deep depressions giving strong offshore winds. These accelerated ice loss during the melt season, creating a 1.00 × 10⁶ km² coastal polynya in the Ross Sea. In the northern Weddell Sea, westerly winds of record strength led to ice export from the region.

Key Points

 

• Antarctic sea ice extent dropped to a record low level of 1.92 × 10⁶ km² on 25 February 2022

• There were negative sea ice anomalies in all sectors of the Southern Ocean, with the largest in the Ross and Weddell Seas

• Deep storms in October/November 2021 led to low sea ice concentration and a large coastal polynya that accelerated sea ice loss

 

Plain Language Summary

Sea ice is a critical part of the Antarctic climate system that is an important breeding habitat for seals and other marine biota, as well as playing an important part in the global ocean circulation. Unlike the Arctic, where sea ice extent has decreased over recent decades, sea ice around the Antarctic actually increased in extent for a large part of the record starting in the late 1970s. However, on 25 February 2022 the extent dropped to a record low level of 1.924 million square kilometers, one million square kilometres below the long-term average. The origins of the sea ice loss can be traced back to extremely deep storms in the Ross Sea in October and November 2021, and the very strong southerly winds that the storms had on their western flank. These moved sea ice away from the Antarctic coast, exposing the ocean and allowing solar heating to warm the ocean and give further sea ice melt. An additional factor was the very strong westerly winds north of the Weddell Sea that moved sea ice of this basin and towards the east.

 

 

[Lewis]

Antarctica continues to stall with the refreeze and Extent and Area for sea ice is back to lowest on record. I see the Jet stream is also wonky for that part of the world https://streamable.com/9560xt

 

 

 

 

[Lewis]

Global Sea Ice for Area and Extent has now reached lowest for this time of the year.

 

[Lewis]

After that weird stall, sea ice is slowly refreezing again, still lowest on record though.

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by Lewis

[Lewis]

Antarctica weird refreezing behaviour continues

 

Area is now 88 days lowest this year

Extent is now 39 days lowest this year

 

another 108 days or so until refreeze is over

 

[Lewis]

Antarctica continues to remain in the low levels of sea ice, it will come to its maximum in October and then will start its melting cycle. Because of the refreeze stall throughout the season, I wonder how it will affect the emperor penguins during its breeding season, which is typically during fall, because they depend on stable sea ice to breed. This coming melting season could be interesting to watch.

 

[Lewis]

Back to lowest on extent for sea ice in Antarctica, and 2nd for Area. Should be an interesting year seeing we are in the early stages in the melting season.

[tekmantwo]

Thank you, Lewis, for posting this information.

I enjoy reading it even if I don't comment and your effort is appreciated..

[Lewis]

Current data shows sea ice is decreasing all at the same time overall globally.

 

Antarctica is in melting season and sea ice AREA is back at lowest levels and has been for 101 days this year so far, and sea ice EXTENT is 2nd and trending to be 1st again in the next two weeks. Another 67 days until its minimum. The Tongue of Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica appears to be decaying much faster than expected especially in the eastern part where chunks of ice is breaking off like there’s no tomorrow. The risk of sea level rise is real.

 

It’s been reported Greenland is now melting 100 times faster than previously estimated.

 

In the Arctic North is in a refreeze season and sea ice AREA is at 3rd lowest and EXTENT at 9th (EXTENT changes rapidly from day to day)

 

Globally, Global sea ice for AREA and EXTENT are both 2nd lowest on record and trending towards lowest.

 

The less ice we have, the more problematic to our weather system around the world will be. I.E La Niña / El Niño events.

 

Fun times we are living in.

[Percy]

22 hours ago, Lewis said:

In the Arctic North is in a refreeze season and sea ice AREA is at 3rd lowest and EXTENT at 9th (EXTENT changes rapidly from day to day)

I was in the arctic in the 90s surveying the Northwest Passage, as it was expected that the depletion of ice would make the Arctic Ocean a thoroughfare for shipping between the far east and Europe, rather than travelling through the Suez Canal. The Northwest Passage is through the Canadian Archipelago. Now the whole arctic waters up there is now becoming free of ice and very large ships are starting to ply those waters in the summer. This site shows the many vessels involved in world trade that is continually updated. Zoom in and click a vessel to see its description. You may need to register for the free account and get monthly updates.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:27.1/centery:21.6/zoom:2 Most of the ships burn very dirty bunker fuel which is the equivalent of 50 million cars according to most estimates.

Percy

[Lewis]

Oh very cool about your expedition, yeah in the 90s, there was way more ice back then, i remember in 2007 when it was reported that there was open water for the very first time and now its pretty normal to have open water there every year.

 

I use this site for vessels https://www.vesselfinder.com

 

There are now laws in effect for ships regarding emissions, it will now be mandatory as of Jan 1 2023 that ships will be required to calculate two ratings: their attained Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) to determine their energy efficiency, and their annual operational Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) and associated CII rating. Carbon intensity links the GHG emissions to the amount of cargo carried over distance travelled. This will have a profound effect on the aerosol masking effect, effectively creating even a warmer planet because the pollution wont be in the clouds reflecting radiation back into space (pollution acts like mirrors in the clouds), so the heat hidden behind this pollution will be felt.

[Percy]

2 hours ago, Lewis said:

i remember in 2007 when it was reported that there was open water for the very first time and now its pretty normal to have open water there every year

The lifestyle of the Inuit is that in the winter from Cambridge Bay (Victoria Island) they would scoot over to the mainland and hunt for elk and musk ox and return with the meat. I was there is august-september (5C degrees) and that winter, a couple went across the ice and fell through and died. The ice was unstable, being too thin even at that time. Since then they have been using boats. I spoke with one of the scientists at the time and he said that satellites can see the surface extent of the ice but can't see the thickness. It had diminished more than they knew.

We also had to rescue the Hanseatic from the ice floes as it was trapped. https://www.small-cruise-ships.com/ship/ms-hanseatic/ It is a new and small cruise vessel with about 250 on board from Sweden and they do an annual trip through the Arctic for their customers. We had to repair their propeller while the tourists explored the remains of the Franklin expedition of 1846 of which there were no survivors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin's_lost_expedition We could not find it with single-beam sonar.

Lots of videos showing the loss of ice since the 70s. Landsat was operational in 1979. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/arctic-sea-ice/

Peace my brother

Percy

[Percy]

Not sure is you have seen this movie/documentary, but it is well worth it: https://www.freightened.com/

 

[Lewis]

On 12/22/2022 at 2:51 PM, Percy said:

Not sure is you have seen this movie/documentary, but it is well worth it: https://www.freightened.com/

 

 

I saw this documentary a while back and its scary to think about how much we rely on these ships and the damage it does to our planet. Just one ship burns enough sulfur oxide and pollution in the air as much as 50 million cars, some of the bigger ships even more. There are 60 thousand ships running all year round, crazy when you think about it.

 

[Percy]

On 12/18/2022 at 3:27 PM, Lewis said:

I use this site for vessels https://www.vesselfinder.com

I looked for a vessel on vesselfinder called 'Amakusa Island', which was involved in a grounding on a rock, near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, some years ago. It wasn't found. I did find it on MarineTraffic though. Why wasn't it found? Who knows.

Percy

[Lewis]

Looks like Amakusa Island had a name change. See here -> https://www.balticshipping.com/vessel/imo/9303900

 

Description	YUE DA 2 is a Bulk carrier built in 2005 by OSHIMA SHIPBUILDING CO. LTD. - SAIKAI, JAPAN. Currently sailing under the flag of China. Formerly also known as AMAKUSA ISLAND, AMAKQSA ISLAN, AMAKTSA ISLAND. It's gross tonnage is 44547 tons.

Edited December 24, 2022 by Lewis