http://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,1837.msg99281.html#msg99281
Global Sea Ice Extent is now at record low.
Global Sea Ice Area broke the minimum record a couple of days ago. Now a 150k drop makes the global sea ice extent drop below all previous (in the satellite era) records. That is about one month before the annual minimum normally can be expected.
How low will it go? Will the global ice ever return to “normality”? I have no idea.
date————–extent—area
2017-01-05 17.936 14.426
2017-01-06 17.699 14.186
2017-01-07 17.618 14.037
2017-01-08 17.573 14.066
2017-01-09 17.445 14.058
2017-01-10 17.310 14.075
2017-01-11 17.330 14.025
2017-01-12 16.895 13.707
2017-01-13 16.849 13.711
2017-01-14 16.693 13.659
Starting about mid-September of last year, Earth’s total polar sea ice coverage, both extent and area at both poles, began a precipitous collapse which shows no sign of letting up. As the graph below shows, the total amount of polar ice on the planet today is not only lower than it has ever been on this date, but lower than it has ever been in the 38 years we have been monitoring the icecaps with satellites. And at least by visual inspection, it appears that red line is nowhere near bottom yet. It should also be clear that this is not a mere statistical outlier, it is the result of a trend that is consistently worsening year by year.
http://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1837.0;attach=40328;image
It is clear this situation cannot continue indefinitely without severe consequences to the planetary climate. Granted, no one knows if some previously unknown feedback mechanism will kick in unexpectedly at the last moment and mitigate the effects of these conditions. Likewise, no one can predict what the final consequences of this climate change will mean to biological life or human civilization on this planet. But I really do think we can at least recognize that we have a problem, that it is getting worse, that it is getting worse at an alarming rate, that it is man-made, and that its effects are potentially catastrophic.
It is real, it is not a hoax, it is not “natural”, it is not a Chinese conspiracy to destroy our economy or a UN cabal to steal our freedom or a bureaucratic scheme to raise taxes and concentrate power. And it is certainly not a climatologists’ plot to secure perpetual funding for their research.
Any political philosophy or partisan that refuses to recognize even the possibility of such an emergency, or if recognizing it, refuses to acknowledge it because it might call into question their other ideological positions, simply cannot be taken seriously any longer.