Sea Ice Outlook: August Reports Available
Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH)
For further information and to view the Pan-Arctic and Regional reports,
please go to: http://www.arcus.org/search/seaiceoutlook/2011/august
Or contact:
Helen Wiggins, SEARCH Project Office, ARCUS
Email: helen [at] arcus.org
The August SEARCH Sea Ice Outlook reports (based on July data) are now
available! The Summary, Full Pan-Arctic Outlook, and Regional Outlook
are available at: http://www.arcus.org/search/seaiceoutlook/2011/august.
This month had a record number of contributions with 26 groups
participating. We received 21 responses for the Pan-Arctic report, with
estimates in the range of just below 4.0 million square kilometers to as
high as 5.4 million square kilometers for the September arctic mean sea
ice extent. The median value was 4.6 million square kilometers with
quartile values of 4.3 and 4.6 million square kilometers, a rather
narrow range.
All contributions are well below the 1979-2007 climatological mean of
6.7 million square kilometers, and also below all values seen prior to
2007. Thus, the low values observed the last four summers are expected
to continue again this September. On a regional level, with five
Regional Outlook contributions, the long-term downward trend is expected
to continue in all regions except the Greenland Sea.
July 2011 set a new record low for the month during the satellite data
record, despite a significant slowing down of ice loss during the latter
half of the month as weather changed to cooler conditions. In August,
warmer conditions returned, which combined with a rather diffuse ice
cover in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas has led to a speed-up in the rate
of ice loss at the beginning of August, particularly in the Chukchi Sea.
Whether or not this rate of ice loss will continue depends on what the
weather does over the next few weeks.
For the full August Outlook reports, go to:
http://www.arcus.org/search/seaiceoutlook/2011/august.
For more information on the Sea Ice Outlook, see the main Outlook
website at: http://www.arcus.org/search/seaiceoutlook/index.php.
Or contact:
Helen Wiggins, SEARCH Project Office, ARCUS
Email: helen [at] arcus.org