It's been a while since I blogged about the state of the Cryosphere.  However it's been an interesting time.  Virtually NO ice in the Swedish Baltic Arctic Circle.  Basically No winter for Stockhom.  I do mean NO winter.  They don't count the odd day at -1 and the odd flurry of snow as "Winter".  They talk about 5 months with below 0 temperatures and lots of -15 to -20.  So no winter this year.

 

The reports from the Arctic have been varied and interesting.  Bering straights with 100km open ice polynias.  Old Ice moving at high speed and flushing out of the Arctic.  Vary sparse cover with many areas less than 100% Ice.  Relatively warm temps (-17 to -24 instead of -40) which mean the ice is not thickening in the same way.

 

We still have the March high point to come, but we are moving into the Feb meltback right now and I wonder what March will bring?

 

All good clean fun.  After all, if you don't know it's coming then you can't prepare.

 

Oh and on that point, the scientists recorded a 1.5 meter loss of Ice in Greenland during the melt last year.  Which is somewhat "significant" but you won't hear them talking about it too much right now.  Not till they can prove a trend.  But the thing is, by the time you can see the trend, you are already so far in the shit you can't do much about it.

 

Oh well, as any married man will tell you, it's only the depth that varies....