NASA | Sea Ice Max 2013: An Interesting Year for Arctic Sea Ice

After a record melt season, an Arctic cyclone, and a fascinating fracturing event, Arctic sea ice has reached its maximum extent for the year.

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[SomeoneCommenting]

The currents vector animation was really cool, and helps a lot to understand the process.

[AceBanana]

How does this effect the Jet stream? Fresh water melt into sea water cant be good because it reduces salinity.

[johndaddyo]

You've got it almost right, mamali2. Since mean global temperature anomaly for 2011 and 2012 was +0.13C and +0.16C respectively (a little bit more than 1/10th of one degree Celsius above normal), we need to get really freaked out about what an increase of just +1 C could do! Oh wait - did anyone check what was happening to Antarctic snow & ice mass when Arctic ice was at a minimum? Since 90% of Earth's permanent glacial mass is down there, it might be important to check on it.

[andycroucheaux]

Al Gore said that the Arctic would be ICE FREE by 2013 and London, Bangladesh and Florida would be under He scared the crap out of children. What a guy.

[allanallanson]

Just imagine, the ice breaks up & melts faster because of all the icebreaker ships cutting through the icepack.. probably full of reaserchers ironically.

[boraboyever]

You also forget to mention the weight of Ice and its altitude and compression it causes on land. This has a geological effect with changing the pressure on the earths core possible causing the earth to shift on its axis. Everything is connected.

[vladconstantinminea]

This ice is already in the water, it does not cause rising sea level if it melts. Only the ice on Greenland and Antarctica would do that.

[SynytsiaAnton]

Not really, the melt of ice will affect the temperature a little. Majority of ice located at the poles and the sun rays there are at the angle anyways.

[codeXenigma]

well once it was all covered in ice and it has had periods with no ice.. so what do u think us little humans can do to effect the enormous planet. its always changing, its shown in evolution as life adapts to survive

[gobblox]

What is your source for that claim? Which scientists? What are their fields?

[troy]

Hi could this be the reason the uk is still cold now. As the jet stream for a few years now has been diverted south. The jet stream at the moment is across north africa. Leaving the uk still bloody cold after the snow as gone. Mind you its still only april. As the uk gets its 1 week of sunshine in mid may. (still i can dream)

[utubelesst]

U didn't put a light in the middle of the room did you?

[thatswhattheyis]

North America is still cold too. We have been having a difficult time reaching -10 degrees from the normal highs. The first day of spring was -27f below the normal high. I'm ready for global warming to show back up.

[mikeb]

tell me how does the sun cool a planet? the sun provides heat but it depends on the atmosphere of a planet to trap that heat. co2 happens to trap heat very well.

[retskni]

The arctic is there. It is simply the large area at the northern pole of our planet. The arctic is all ocean. There is no continent or significant land mass as there is at the South Pole - the Antarctic. Google Earth does not show the ice covering the Arctic presumably because the ice varies so greatly throughout the year.

[NNJAx]

Wow, an educated comment on global climate. good job

[codeXenigma]

thats a given.. i was just saying everything can be an education, if u learn from it..
look around, everyone is different..
does it define whom u r by what school gives, all its suppose to do is give u a basic understanding of shared knowledge.. what subjects u excel at is usually a reflection of personal interests. some ppl fail school but make a good living, it doesn't always follow that ppl who pass exams will be successful businessmen/women.
its not competition, its loving what u do

[wesleymccurtain]

Good this will open up shipping lanes in the North like never before. Got to see the good not the bad!

[mikeb]

it was smaller in the past, thousands of years ago due to earths natural precession and tilt. but we do know that since 1980, sea ice volume has significantly decreased. this video just explains that sea ice volume has been the lowest we have recorded, and the trend shows that the volume of ice is decreasing very rapidly, 3 million square km in only 30 years. thats about 1 million km per decade. within 4 decades, artic sea ice may be gone. means higher sea levels, less salty oceans = bad

[codeXenigma]

some science says its a natural cycle, we have already been through about 3snowball earths and melts. life goes on or explain how life goes on.. it just adapts