Arctic Temperatures

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When you hear someone complaining about the extent of Arctic ice (which is currently about the same as it was in 1990), you rarely hear them discuss temperatures in the Arctic. Here is the latest temperature data from the Danish Meteorological Institute and it represents the area north of 80° N latitude. The blue line is the freezing line (273°K = 32°F) and the green line is average. As you can see, temperatures have been below normal this summer.
As we have discussed previously, the primary reason Arctic ice has been less in some recent years is soot (largely from China) darkening the ice and unusual wind currents, not 'global warming.'

Comments

  1. Bob CohenJuly 28, 2010 at 12:34 PM

    Mike

    The Arctic icemelt in 2007 was also significantly affected by the PDO which brought warmer (southerly) winds through the Bering Strait and the NAO which brought warmer water northward through Davis Strait. This combination caused the ice to be melted by warmer than normal conditions from above and below!

    I hope all's well in KS!

    Cheers
    Bob Cohen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike SmithJuly 31, 2010 at 2:12 PM

    Thanks, Bob!
    Mike

    ReplyDelete

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