Sea Ice Update - Kennedy Channel Clearing @ 80+ N, Davis Strait Clearing

[hatrack]

Kane Basin's breaking up with not quite two months to go before annual minimum extent:



Most of Franz Josef Land down to less than 1/10th extent:



Davis Strait's mostly clear, save for the region directly across from Disko Island:



For some reason they haven't updated Svalbard (Barents Sea NW) but I'll include last week's image - it'll update automatically.



And finally, there's a good animation in weekly increments from Environment Canada which is worth a look:

http://www.socc.ca/seaice/seaice_current_e.cfm

[jpak]

1. The blue area in the top figure is part of the North Water Polynya

http://www2.fsg.ulaval.ca/giroq/now//what.htm

http://www2.fsg.ulaval.ca/giroq/now//north.htm

It's a recurrent polynya that's present from May to October.

The ice in the Kane Basin is part of the "ice bridge" that forms when southward drifting icebergs jam together and prevent bergs to the north from entering the polynya to the south.

The North Water is highly productive and supports large populations of polar bears, seals, narwhal, beluga, a remnant population bowhead whales (they were nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century) and millions of dovkies and murres (they literally darken the sky when they arrive en mass in the spring).

It's also host to a fairly large Inuit population that subsists, in part, on mammals and seabirds from the polynya. Descendants of Robert Peary's expedition still live on the Greenland side.

I spent 4 months on a Canadian icebreaker up there as part of the NOW study...

http://www2.fsg.ulaval.ca/giroq/now//scien.htm

Lots of pix here...

http://www2.fsg.ulaval.ca/giroq/now//Gallery/WorkatC.html

http://www2.fsg.ulaval.ca/giroq/now//Gallery/Scenery.html

http://www2.fsg.ulaval.ca/giroq/now//Gallery/people.html

Our Greenland Inuit observer was the grandson of Robert Peary. He told me when he was young, he didn't give a second thought to traveling over the ice (dozens or hundreds of miles) to see friends and relatives to the south.

He would not do that today. Ice conditions in the polynya are now unpredictable and unsafe - even in winter...

[hatrack]

3. Fascinating - from what I've read Baffin Bay's polyana is wildly variable

It can be pretty much gone, as is the case today, or the same region can be densely ice-packed even at the height of summer.

Also interesting to learn that Peary's descendents are still there!

[NNadir]

2. Thanks again, for the terror.

When it comes to scaring the living shit out of people, Stephen King or any of those famous guys ain't got nothing on you.

[hatrack]

4. There it is - Svalbard 100% sea-ice free on 20 July - astounding

I've never seen it out this early and to this extent.

Things are going to be REALLY interesting by Labor Day weekend.