[Vision2020] University of Bremen Institute of Environmental Physics: 2011 Summer Arctic Sea Ice Extent Breaks 2007 Record Low

[Ted Moffett]

Dr. Georg Heygster at the Institute of Environmental Physics, University of
Bremen, explains at the pdf below why their estimation of Arctic summer sea
ice extent in 2011 is lower than the estimation given by the US National
Snow Ice Data Center, which ranked the 2011 summer low extent as a close
second to the 2007 record low extent.  NSIDC mentioned on their website that
other researchers had found 2011 to set a new record low summer sea ice
extent, but I did not read a reference to what researchers, so I searched
for them.

>From University of Bremen Institute of Environmental Physics:

http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de:8084/amsr/minimum2011-en.pdf
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NSIDC statements on 2011 Arctic summer low sea ice extent:

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

Arctic sea ice at minimum extent

Arctic sea ice appears to have reached its lowest extent for the year. The
minimum ice extent was the second lowest in the satellite record, after
2007, and continues the decadal trend of rapidly decreasing summer sea ice.

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The minimum ice extent this year is very close to 2007, and indeed some
other research groups place 2011 as the lowest on record. At this point,
using our processing and sensor series, the 2011 minimum is a close second.

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*Conditions in context**
*The last five years (2007 to 2011) have been the five lowest extents in the
continuous satellite record, which extends back to 1979. While the record
low year of 2007 was marked by a combination of weather conditions that
favored ice loss (including clearer skies, favorable wind patterns, and warm
temperatures), this year has shown more typical weather patterns but
continued warmth over the Arctic. This supports the idea that the Arctic sea
ice cover is continuing to thin. Models and remote sensing data also
indicate this is the case. A large area of low concentration ice in the East
Siberian Sea, visible in NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) <http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?mosaic=Arctic> imagery,
suggests that the ice cover this year is particularly thin and dispersed
this year.

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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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