Remember the firestorm of criticism directed at George Will for his early 2009 columns about global warming, esp that global sea ice was not melting (see George Will: climate criminal or brave but sloppy iconoclast?, 23 February 2009)? This followed the 2007 low in arctic sea ice, and predictions of a “death spiral” and “Arctic summers ice-free ‘by 2013’” (BBC, 12 December 2007). They did everything but recommend Will be chopped up and fed to the poor.
Since then the arctic sea ice has slowed increased. It’s now at a six year high, almost back to the 1979-2000 average. I suggest that Will not hold his breath while waiting for apologies. To pass the time until then, here are two quotes of the day from “Arctic ice recovers from the great melt“, The Times, 4 April 2010. First, a classic of the warming is climate change; cooling is only weather school of agitprop:
Scientists emphasise that the regrowth of ice in the Arctic and the fierce US blizzards are natural variations in weather which have little relevance for long-term climate change.
Even the Times finds this risible:
Such caution contrasts with the warnings issued by scientists in 2007 when the north polar ice cap suffered a spectacular summer melt.
Second, a too-rare note of humility from a climate scientist (the one who made the “death spiral prediction” in June 2009):
Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Colorado, is surprised by the Arctic’s recovery from the great melt of 2007 when summer ice shrank to its smallest recorded extent. … “In retrospect, the reactions to the 2007 melt were overstated. The lesson is that we must be more careful in not reading too much into one event,” Serreze said.
Other articles
- Arctic Sea Ice about to hit ‘normal’ – what will the news say?, Steven Goddard and Anthony Watts, Watts Up with That, 31 March 2010
For current data on the polar sea ice
No signs of imminent global catastrophe in these graphs.
Both poles
- Global Sea Ice Anomaly, Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois (Cryosphere Today)
Arctic
- Arctic Sea Ice Extent, National Snow and Ice Data Center
- Arctic Sea Ice Extent Anomalies, National Snow and Ice Data Center
- Arctic Sea Ice Exent, Danish Meteorological Institute
- Arctic Sea Ice Area, Arctic Regional Ocean Observing System — see their home page
- Arctic Sea Ice Extent, Arctic Regional Ocean Observing System
- Arctic Sea Ice Extent, IARC-JAXA Information System (IJIS) — see their home page
- Arctic Sea Ice Area, Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois (Cryosphere Today)
- Arctic Sea Ice Area Anomaly, Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois (Cryosphere Today)
Antarctic
- Antarctic Sea Ice Extent, National Snow and Ice Data Center
- Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Anomalies, National Snow and Ice Data Center
- Antarctic Sea Ice Area, Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois (Cryosphere Today)
- Antarctic Sea Ice Area Anomaly, Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois (Cryosphere Today)
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