Low, but steady growth

Arctic sea ice extent for November 2019 ended up at second lowest in the 41-year satellite record. Regionally, extent remains well below average in the Chukchi Sea, Hudson Bay, and Davis Strait.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for XXXX 20XX was X.XX million square kilometers (X.XX million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for November 2019 was 9.33 million square kilometers (3.60 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

At the end of November and through the first week of December, daily extent was tracking third lowest in the satellite record, behind 2006 and 2016. Average ice extent for the month, however, finished second lowest in the passive microwave satellite record at 9.33 million square kilometers (3.60 million square miles). This was 670,000 square kilometers (259,000 square miles) above the 2016 record low for the month and 1.37 million square kilometers (529,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. Regionally, extent remains well below average in the Chukchi Sea, as well as in Hudson Bay and Davis Strait. Extent is also below average in the Barents Sea, but not as pronounced as has been observed in recent years. Ice now extends to the shore along most of the Russian Arctic and along the coast of the Beaufort Sea. Extent is near average in the East Greenland Sea.

Conditions in context

Figure 2. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of XXXXX XX, 20XX, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 20XX in purple, and 20XX in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of December 04, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2X. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for XXXmonthXX 20XX. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division| High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for November 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

The daily growth rate for November was generally steady, averaging 98,600 square kilometers (38,100 square miles) per day, compared to the 1981 to 2010 average of 69,600 square kilometers (26,900 square miles). Overall, ice extent increased by 2.75 million square kilometers (1.06 million square miles) through the month, somewhat larger than the 1981 to 2010 average for the month of 2.07 million square kilometers (799,000 square miles).

Average November air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above the surface) were 2 to 4 degrees Celsius (4 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) above average over the East Siberian, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas, but near average or only slightly above average over the remainder of the Arctic Ocean. It was unusually warm, up to 6 degrees Celsius (11 degrees Fahrenheit) above average, over Greenland (Figure 2b). The warmth over the East Siberian, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas is consistent with mean low pressure at sea level for the month centered north of East Siberian Sea, drawing in warmth from the south. Above average temperatures over the Chukchi Sea also reflect remaining areas of open water; indeed, at the surface, November temperatures in the Chukchi Sea were 10 to 12 degrees Celsius (18 to 22 degrees Fahrenheit) above average. Such high surface temperatures in this area will remain until the upper ocean losses its remaining heat and ice begins to form.

November 2019 compared to previous years

Figure 3. Monthly XXXXX ice extent for 1979 to 201X shows a decline of X.X percent per decade.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center| High-resolution image

Figure 3. Monthly November ice extent for 1979 to 2019 shows a decline of 5.02 percent per decade.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

As assessed over the period of satellite observations, Arctic sea ice extent for November 2019 was 9.33 million square kilometers (3.60 million square miles), the second lowest in the satellite record. The linear rate of sea ice decline for November is 53,800 square kilometers (20,800 square miles) per year, or 5.02 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

Ocean heat transport through Bering Strait

Figure 5. This satellite image shows the Bering Strait. Russia is on the left, Alaska is on the right. The Strait is about 85 kilometers across (miles). Warm water from the Pacific Ocean enters the Arctic Ocean via the Bering Strait. ||Credit: Wikimedia commons | High-resolution image

Figure 4. This Terra satellite image uses the multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) instrument to visualize the Bering Strait, with the Chukchi Sea to the north. Russia is on the left, Alaska is on the right. The Strait is about 85 kilometers across (53 miles). Warm water from the Pacific Ocean enters the Arctic Ocean via the Bering Strait.

Credit: Wikimedia commons/NASA
High-resolution image

Recent work has shown that the transport of ocean heat into the Chukchi Sea through the Bering Strait strongly influences sea ice conditions in the region (Figure 4). This ocean heat transport, which is monitored by a buoy in the strait, depends on both the volume and temperature of this transported water. Recent work by C. Peralta‐Ferriz and R. Woodgate at the University of Washington in Seattle shows that variability in the volume inflow relates in considerable part to the strength of winds in the East Siberian Sea that act to raise or drop sea level in this area. A follow on paper by NSIDC scientists M. Serreze and A. P. Barrett, along with A. Crawford from Wooster College and R. Woodgate reveals that the winds in the East Siberian Sea that affect the Bering Strait inflow also relate to a broader atmospheric pattern of high versus low pressure over the central Arctic Ocean that influences September sea ice extent for the Arctic as a whole. Some recent large ocean heat transports through the Bering Strait are associated with high water temperatures, consistent with the persistence of open water in the Chukchi Sea into winter and early ice retreat in spring. The stubbornly slow freeze up in the Chukchi Sea this autumn may well reflect the effects of ocean heat transport.

Antarctic sea ice extent tracks the record minimum year

Figure 4. This map shows sea ice concentration surrounding Antarctica on December 3, 2019. A polynya, or opening in sea ice, is visible west of the Weddell Sea. ||Credit: NSIDC| High-resolution image

Figure 5. This map shows sea ice concentration surrounding Antarctica on December 3, 2019. White indicates areas of high sea ice concentration; darker blues indicate a decrease in ice concentration.

Credit: NSIDC
High-resolution image

In the Antarctic, sea ice is in the midst of its sharp seasonal decline. It is currently tracking near 2017 levels, the record low year for minimum extent. November extent was 14.89 million square kilometers (5.75 million square miles), which is 1.01 million square kilometers (390,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. It is the second lowest November extent in the satellite record, about 670,000 square kilometers (259,000 square miles) above November 2016.

Further reading

Serreze, M. C., A. P. Barrett, A. D. Crawford and R. A. Woodgate. 2019. Monthly variability in Bering Strait oceanic volume and heat transports, links to atmospheric circulation and ocean temperature, and implications for sea ice conditions. Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, November 11, 2019, doi:10.1029/2019JC015422.

Wild ride in October

October daily sea ice extent went from third lowest in the satellite record at the beginning of the month to lowest on record starting on October 13 through October 30. Daily extent finished second lowest, just above 2016, at month’s end. Average sea ice extent for the month was the lowest on record. While freeze up has been rapid along the coastal seas of Siberia, extensive open water remains in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, resulting in unusually high air temperatures in the region. Extent also remains low in Baffin Bay.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for XXXX 20XX was X.XX million square kilometers (X.XX million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for October 2019 was 5.67 million square kilometers (2.19 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Arctic sea ice extent averaged for October 2019 was 5.66 million square kilometers (2.19 million square miles), the lowest in the 41-year continuous satellite record. This was 230,000 square kilometers (88,800 square miles) below that observed in 2012—the previous record low for the month—and 2.69 million square kilometers (1.04 million square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. Daily ice extent began tracking below 2012 levels on October 13 and continued to do so through the end of the month, which was enough to reach a new record monthly low at 5.66 million square kilometers (2.19 million square miles). The Arctic gained only 2.79 million square kilometers (1.08 million square miles) of ice in October 2019, compared to 3.81 million square kilometers (1.47 million square miles) in October 2012.

Autumn freeze up was slow during the first half of October, with most of the increases in the eastern Beaufort Sea and Laptev Sea. During the second half of the month, ice began to grow quickly along the coastal regions of the East Siberian and Laptev Seas. Sea ice also began forming around northern to north-eastern Svalbard. Overall, the ice edge remained considerably north of its average location throughout the Beaufort, Chukchi, Kara, and Barents Seas, as well as within Baffin Bay. However, around Svalbard, the sea ice has returned to near average conditions for this time of year. As of October 15, the ice extent in the Chukchi Sea is the lowest on record for this time of year.

Conditions in context

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of XXXXX XX, 20XX, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 20XX in purple, and 20XX in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of October 31, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. October sea ice gain (millions of square kilometers), 1979 to 2019, with 2019 shown in red and the climatological average ice growth in gray. October 2019 ice gain was close to average.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2b. The chart above shows October sea ice gain in millions of square kilometers from 1979 to 2019, with 2019 shown in red and the climatological average ice growth in gray. October 2019 ice gain was close to average.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2c: Satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) and temperatures at the UpTempO buoys, along with sea ice concentration. UpTempO buoys measure ocean temperature in the euphotic surface layer of the Polar Oceans. ||Credit: Figure from UpTempO at the University of Washington. |High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This map shows satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST) and temperatures at the Upper layer Temperature of the Polar Oceans (UpTempO) buoys, along with sea ice concentration. UpTempO buoys measure ocean temperature in the euphotic surface layer of the Polar Oceans.

Credit: University of Washington
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Figure 2d. This figure shows air temperatures compared to average for October 2019. This includes a cross section (latitude by height, up to the 500 hPa level) along the 180 degrees E meridian, which is the date line and cuts through the Chukchi Sea. The prominent area in red at and near the surface manifests the extensive open water in the Chukchi Sea. ||Credit: NOAA/ESRL Physical Sciences Division. ||Credit: NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis| High-resolution image

Figure 2d. This figure shows air temperatures compared to average for October 2019. This is a cross section (latitude by height, up to the 500 hPa level) along the 180 degrees E meridian, which is the date line and cuts through the Chukchi Sea. The prominent area in red at and near the surface manifests the extensive open water in the Chukchi Sea.

Credit: NOAA/ESRL Physical Sciences Division.
High-resolution image

Ice growth through October 2019 averaged 89,900 square kilometers (34,700 square miles) per day. This was similar to the average rate of ice growth in October of 89,100 square kilometers (34,400 square miles) per day. However, the growth rate varied greatly during the month. On October 1, extent tracked 682,000 square kilometers (263,000 square miles) above that for the same day in 2012. However, ice growth was slow, and by October 13, extent began tracking below 2012, setting new record daily lows during the latter half of the month. On October 18, extent was 3.08 million square kilometers (1.19 million square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average, the largest daily departure from average observed in the satellite data record. Ice growth rates increased during the last two weeks of the month so that by October 30, the extent started tracking above that recorded in 2016.

Overall, sea ice extent increased 2.79 million square kilometers (1.08 square miles) in October 2019. The largest October ice gain was in 2008 (4.22 million square kilometers; 1.63 million square miles), followed closely by 2012 (3.81 million square kilometers; 1.47 million square miles) and 2007 (3.70 million square kilometers; 1.43 million square miles) (Figure2b). However, this October, sea surface temperatures remained relatively high (2 to 5 degrees Celsius; 36 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit) in early October throughout large areas of the Chukchi, Laptev, Kara, and Barents Seas (Figure 2c). High sea surface temperatures imply considerable heat storage in the ocean surface layer, consistent with delayed freeze up in those regions.

Air temperatures at 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above the surface) for the month were 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (2 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) above average over most of the Arctic Ocean, with temperatures north of Greenland reaching 7 degrees Celsius (13 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1981 to 2010 average. Below average air temperatures were only found southeast of Svalbard (on the order of 1 to 2 degrees Celsius, or 2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit). Of particular interest are the unusually high temperatures at and near the surface in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas due to the extensive open water there. These manifest large energy fluxes from the ocean to the atmosphere, as the warm ocean water cools to the freezing point. The vertical cross section (latitude by height) of air temperatures expressed as departures from average along the 180oE meridian (the date line, which cuts through the Chukchi Sea) shows this effect clearly (Figure 2d). Unusually high temperatures in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas will linger until the ocean surface freezes over.

October 2019 compared to previous years

Figure 3. Monthly XXXXX ice extent for 1979 to 201X shows a decline of X.X percent per decade.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center| High-resolution image

Figure 3. Monthly October ice extent for 1979 to 2019 shows a decline of 9.8 percent per decade.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Monthly sea ice extent reached a record low in October as assessed over the period of satellite observations. The linear rate of sea ice decline for October is 81,400 square kilometers (31,400 square miles) per year, or 9.8 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

Ice returns to “normal” near Svalbard

Figure 4. Sea ice extent around Svalbard has returned to the 1981 to 2010 median position for this time of year, as shown by the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the Sentinel-1 mission for October 28, 2019. ||Credit: Norwegian Meteorological Institute. | High-resolution image

Figure 4. Sea ice extent around Svalbard has returned to the 1981 to 2010 median position for this time of year, as shown by the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the Sentinel-1 mission for October 28, 2019.

Credit: Norwegian Meteorological Institute
High-resolution image

Recent winters have seen unusually low ice extent in the Barents Sea. Several studies have demonstrated a link between reduced winter ice in this region and increased ocean heat transport from the north Atlantic that prevents ice formation. However, the ocean heat transport is variable, and weakening could allow for temporary recovery of winter ice conditions in this region despite a warming climate. This appears to have been the case last winter, when the ice edge in the Barents Sea returned to its 1981 to 2010 average position. Early evidence suggests that this recovery may continue into the coming winter. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the Sentinel-1 mission for October 28 (Figure 4) shows the ice extent around Svalbard has returned to the 1981 to 2010 median position for this time of year. However, extent still remains much below average over most of the northern Barents Sea.

Update on sea ice age

Figure 5. Sea ice age for October 22 to 28 for 1985 (top left) and 2019 (top right), and timeseries of ages for that week from 1985 to 2019 (bottom) from NSIDC’s EASE-Grid Sea Ice Age, Version 4. ||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center | High-resolution image

Figure 5. The top left map shows sea ice age for October 22 to 28, 1985 while the right map shows the same week in 2019. The bottom graph shows a time series of ages for that week from 1985 to 2019 from the NSIDC EASE-Grid Sea Ice Age, Version 4.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

After the sea ice minimum in September, the remaining sea ice had its “birthday,” aging one year in the NSIDC sea ice age fields. Much of the Arctic is now covered by second-year (1- to 2-year-old) ice, meaning ice that grew over the 2018 autumn and 2019 winter and survived the melt season. There is also already about 1 million square kilometers (386,100 square miles) of ice that has grown since the September 2019 minimum—the 0- to 1-year-old category—but there is substantially less ice older than two years than there used be—about one-third of the amount “old ice” as there was in the mid-1980s and about one-half as much as there was as recently as the mid-2000s.

IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC)

Figure 6. The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) Summary for Policy Makers Report shows the observed and modeled historical changes in the ocean and cryosphere since 1950, as well as the future projections under a low emission scenario that limits the global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit), compared to a high emission scenario where global temperatures rise above 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit). Changes are shown changes relative to 1986-2005 for: (a) global mean surface air temperature; (b) global-mean sea surface temperature; (c) number of surface ocean marine heatwave days; (d) global ocean heat content (0 to 2000 meter depth); (e) Greenland mass loss; (f) Antarctic mass loss; (g) glacier mass loss; (h) global mean surface pH; (i) global mean ocean oxygen averaged over 100 to 600 meter depth; (j) Arctic sea ice; (k) Northern Hemisphere snow cover; (l) near-surface permafrost area and (m) global sea level. ||Credit: International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). | High-resolution image

Figure 6. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) Summary for Policymakers shows the observed and modeled historical changes in the ocean and cryosphere since 1950, as well as the future projections under a low emission scenario that limits the global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit), compared to a high emission scenario where global temperatures rise above 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit). Changes are shown relative to 1986 to 2005 for: (a) global mean surface air temperature; (b) global-mean sea surface temperature; (c) number of surface ocean marine heatwave days; (d) global ocean heat content (0 to 2000 meter depth); (e) Greenland mass loss; (f) Antarctic mass loss; (g) glacier mass loss; (h) global mean surface pH; (i) global mean ocean oxygen averaged over 100 to 600 meter depth; (j) Arctic sea ice; (k) Arctic snow cover; (l) near-surface permafrost area and (m) global sea level.

Credit: International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
High-resolution image

In late September, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new report on the state of the oceans and the cryosphere, highlighting observed changes and forecasts of what may occur in the future. The report provides a timely update on how the cryosphere is changing and its implications for society and ecosystems. It also highlights the high confidence in rates of Arctic sea ice loss and its causes, with anthropogenic forcing and natural climate variability playing nearly equal roles.

NSIDC scientist Julienne Stroeve was one of the contributors to the chapters on sea ice and Arctic amplification—the outsized rise in Arctic air temperatures compared to the globe as a whole. One of the drivers of the special report is recognition that the oceans play a key role in the changing climate system, absorbing 90 percent of the excess heat within Earth’s system and up to a third of the carbon dioxide. Sea ice also reflects much of the sun’s energy back out to space, helping to keep the planet cooler than it otherwise would be. There is high confidence that the Arctic sea ice cover will continue to shrink (Figure 6).

The effects of anthropogenic warming are not as clear in the Antarctic, in particular for sea ice trends. This results in low confidence in any forecast of how Antarctic sea ice will evolve. The report also highlights how permafrost and snow cover are expected to change, as well as sea level rise from glacier and ice sheet mass losses. Given that the Antarctic ice sheet is starting to contribute more each year to global mean sea level rise, the potential for a meter (3.28 feet) of sea level rise by the end of the century remains possible. A key message of the report is that limiting global warming to a total of less than 2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century will help to mitigate the negative effects of climate change.

Falling up

Arctic sea ice began its autumn regrowth in the last 12 days of September, with the ice edge expanding along a broad front in the western Arctic Ocean. Overall, the summer of 2019 was exceptionally warm, with repeated pulses of very warm air from northern Siberia and the Bering Strait.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for XXXX 20XX was X.XX million square kilometers (X.XX million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1a. Arctic sea ice extent for September 2019 was 4.32 million square kilometers (1.67 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 1b. This map compares sea ice extent between September 18 (white) and September 30 (dark blue), showing areas of retreat and expansion.

Credit NSIDC
High-resolution image

Arctic sea ice extent for September averaged 4.32 million square kilometers (1.67 million square miles), the third lowest in the 41-year continuous satellite record, behind 2012 and 2007. This is 750,000 square kilometers (290,000 square miles) above the record low set in September 2012, and 2.09 million square kilometers (807,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. Following the minimum seasonal extent, which occurred on September 18 and tied for second lowest in the satellite record, rapid growth ensued along the ice edge in the northern Beaufort, Chukchi, East Siberian, and eastern Laptev Seas (Figure 1b). Winds from the south caused a small area of continued ice retreat in the western Laptev and Kara Seas, offsetting some of the ice expansion. There was also growth in the Canadian Archipelago and offshore northwest of Greenland, with some expansion caused by drift to the northeast of Greenland. The Northern Sea Route appeared to still be open at the end of September.

Conditions in context

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of October 2, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for September 01 to 30, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Warm conditions marked September over the entire Arctic Ocean and its surrounding lands. Air temperatures at the 925 millibar level (about 2,500 feet above sea level) for the month were 2 to 4 degrees Celsius (4 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1981 to 2010 reference period over the ocean region, reaching 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) above average over the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska (Figure 2b). The surrounding Eurasian high-latitude areas experienced temperatures 1 to 2 degrees Celsius (2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit) above the reference period average. Northern Canada and Alaska were also warm, at 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (2 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) above average, with very warm conditions over the Yukon and eastern Alaska, which experienced temperatures 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) above average. Only southern Greenland experienced below-average temperatures, around 1 degree Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) below the 1981 to 2010 period.

The pace of sea ice growth in late September was about average for the post-minimum period. Sea ice expanded at a rate of about 35,000 square kilometers (13,500 square miles) per day. More rapid growth is typical of October when air temperatures fall.

September 2019 compared to previous years

September sea ice decline trendline 1979 to 2019

Figure 3a. Monthly September ice extent for 1979 to 2019 shows a decline of 12.9 percent per decade.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
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Figure 3a. September monthly mean trends for 1979-2019, showing overall trend and trends for the most recent 13 years, and the steepest 13 years in the 41-year record. ||W. Meier, NSIDC|High-resolution image

Figure 3b. September monthly mean trends for 1979-2019, showing overall trend and trends for the most recent 13 years, and the steepest 13 years in the 41-year record.

W. Meier, NSIDC
High-resolution image

This animation shows Arctic sea ice decline from 1979 to 2019 in increasing shades of dark blue with the current year in magenta. ||Credit: M. Scott, NSIDC|High-resolution image

Figure 3c. This animation shows Arctic sea ice decline from 1979 to 2019 from pink to purple, with dark purple in 2019. This animation is based on the Chartic Interactive Sea Ice Graph.

Credit: M. Scott, NSIDC
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Since sea ice extent typically falls during the first half of September and then rises, the overall monthly rate of change in not especially informative. However, in the interests of completeness, sea ice extent during September 2019 decreased by 80,000 square kilometers (31,000 square miles) over the month. By contrast, September extent increased by 130,000 square kilometers (50,200 square miles) during the 1981 to 2010 average. The linear rate of sea ice decline for September extent from 1979 to 2019 is 82,400 square kilometers (31,800 square miles) per year, or 12.9 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

Within the overall decline, it is notable that the most recent 13 years, from 2007 to 2019, have shown very little decline (Figure 3b). Both 2007 and 2012 were extreme low extent years, and variability has been high in this period. However, an earlier 13 year period, 1999 to 2012, shows a rate of decline that is more than double the overall rate in the satellite record. This illustrates the challenge of extracting a quantitative rate of decline in a highly variable system like sea ice, and the benefits of looking at decadal, and not year-to-year variations. Our updates to our public analysis tool, Charctic now allows the user to see the decadal average trends as well as each year (Figure 3c).

A look back at the 2019 Arctic summer

Figure XX. This graphic ranks months based on their Arctic air temperature from 1979 to 2018 at 925 hPa from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) Reanalysis for all areas north of 70 degrees N. Dark reds indicate warmest months; dark blues indicate coldest months. ||Credit: Z. Labe, University of California, Irvine | High-resolution image

Figure 4a. This graphic ranks months based on their Arctic air temperature from 1979 to 2019 at 925 hPa from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) Reanalysis for all areas north of 70 degrees N. Dark reds indicate warmest months; dark blues indicate coldest months.

Credit: Z. Labe, University of California, Irvine
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Arctic summer temperature anomaly map

Figure 4b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for June, July, and August 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Figure 4c. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for two different periods of the 2019 Arctic melt season. The left image shows SLP average from July 10 to August 14, and the image on the right shows SLP averages from August 14 to September 18. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure.||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division| High-resolution image

Figure 4c. This plot shows average sea level pressure (SLP) in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for two different periods of the 2019 Arctic melt season. The left plot shows SLP average from July 10 to August 14, and the right plot shows SLP averages from August 14 to September 18. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Warm conditions across the Arctic Ocean, and early retreat of ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas were distinguishing characteristics of the 2019 summer melt season, which followed another winter and spring with very little ice in the Bering Sea. Monthly average temperatures for the high Arctic (north of 70 degrees North latitude) show that the 2019 spring and summer months, from April to September, all ranked within the three warmest since 1979 (Figure 4a). Air temperatures at the 925hPa level over the Arctic Ocean for the period of June, July, and August were as much as 3 to 4 degrees Celsius (5 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1981 to 2010 reference period average (Figure 4b). Similarly, warm conditions extended into central Siberia and southern Alaska.

The melt season began with little ice in the Bering Sea, which favored early losses in the southern Chukchi Sea by late May. May 2019 was the warmest May in the Arctic since 1979, with some areas seeing temperatures 6 to 7 degrees Celsius (11 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) above average for the month. The sea ice retreat continued with a large area of open water along the coast of northern Alaskan, and initial retreat in the East Siberian Sea. Baffin Bay also lost its ice cover early, and was largely ice free by mid-July. From mid-July through August, a rapid retreat occurred along the entire western Arctic, which while typical for late summer, was more extreme than in earlier decades. However, the pace of ice loss slowed in mid-August, moving the 2019 daily sea ice extent above values for the same dates in 2012, the year that ended up with the lowest September extent in the satellite record. In September, above average temperatures persisted, but sea ice extent was largely controlled by shifting winds. The sea ice extent started to increase when ice growth exceeded the effects of compaction or regional melting from warm ocean waters.

Climatologically, the summer of 2019 was characterized by generally high pressure over Greenland and parts of the Arctic Ocean, with frequent winds from the south into the Arctic Ocean along the longitudes of Siberia and Alaska. The rate of sea ice decline in 2019 tracked the 2012 rate of decline for much of the summer, resulting in new record daily extent lows in July and early August for 2019. This fast-paced period of decline over 35 days, from July 10 to August 14, was attended by high air pressure over Greenland and the Barents Sea, driving warm air northward over Baffin Bay and into the central Arctic Ocean (Figure 4c). The slower pace of ice loss that began in mid-August through the minimum, from August 14 to September 18, was attended by sharply lower sea level pressures in this area, extending northward towards the Pole. High pressure over the East Siberian Sea coupled with this low air pressure extending from Svalbard and Greenland created an eastward wind flow on the Siberian side of the Pole that tended to disperse ice at the ice edge, slowing retreat. Declining temperatures and lower solar elevation are major factors at this time of year, highlighting how the 2012 melt season differed from average years.

Antarctic update

Figure 2. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of XXXXX XX, 20XX, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 20XX in purple, and 20XX in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 5. The graph above shows Antarctic sea ice extent as of October 2, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low and high maximum years. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, the record low maximum extent, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2014 in dotted brown, the record high maximum extent. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Antarctic sea ice is nearing its seasonal maximum for 2019, and may have reached the maximum extent on September 30 at 18.40 million square kilometers (7.10 million square miles). As of this post, sea ice extent is still only slightly below the 1981 to 2010 average, although Antarctic sea ice has tracked below the reference period continuously since September 2016. Regionally, sea ice extent is below the 1981 to 2010 average in the Amundsen, eastern Weddell, and western Wilkes Land coast, but slightly greater than average in the Cosmonaut Sea and eastern Wilkes Land areas.

Further reading

Comiso, J. C. and Gordon, A. L. 1987. Recurring polynyas over the Cosmonaut Sea and the Maud Rise. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 92(C3), pp. 2819-2833, doi: 10.1029/JC092iC03p02819.

Arctic sea ice reaches second lowest minimum in satellite record

On September 18, Arctic sea ice reached its likely minimum extent for 2019. The minimum ice extent was effectively tied for second lowest in the satellite record, along with 2007 and 2016, reinforcing the long-term downward trend in Arctic ice extent. Sea ice extent will now begin its seasonal increase through autumn and winter.

Please note that this is a preliminary announcement. Changing winds or late-season melt could still reduce the Arctic ice extent, as happened in 2005 and 2010. NSIDC scientists will release a full analysis of the Arctic melt season, and discuss the Antarctic winter sea ice growth, in early October.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for September 18, 2019 was 4.15 million square kilometers (1.60 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for September 18, 2019 was 4.15 million square kilometers (1.60 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

On September 18, 2019, sea ice extent dropped to 4.15 million square kilometers (1.60 million square miles), effectively tied for the second lowest minimum in the satellite record along with 2007 and 2016. This appears to be the lowest extent of the year. In response to the setting sun and falling temperatures, ice extent will begin increasing through autumn and winter. However, a shift in wind patterns or a period of late season melt could still push the ice extent lower.

The minimum extent was reached four days later than the 1981 to 2010 median minimum date of September 14. The interquartile range of minimum dates is September 11 to September 19.

This year’s minimum extent was effectively tied with 2007 and 2016 for second lowest, only behind 2012, which is the record minimum. The 13 lowest extents in the satellite era have all occurred in the last 13 years.

Conditions in context

Figure 2. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent on September 18, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for 2007 and 2016 (tied for second lowest minimums on record) and 2012 (lowest on record). 2019 is shown in blue, 2016 in light brown, 2012 in dotted pink, and 2007 in dark brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent on September 18, 2019, along with 2007 and 2016—the years tied for second lowest minimum—and the record minimum for 2012. 2019 is shown in blue, 2016 in light brown, 2012 in dotted pink, and 2007 in dark brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph shows Arctic sea ice decline per decade, and includes the 2019 sea ice decline trajectory. The color scheme moves from lightest blue to darkest, from 1979 to 1990 and 2010 to 2018, respectfully. ||Credit: M. Scott, NSIDC|High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This graph shows Arctic sea ice decline per decade, and includes the 2019 sea ice decline trajectory. The color scheme moves from lightest to darkest blue, from 1979 to 1989 and 2010 to 2018, respectively. 2019 is shown in magenta. This graphic is based on the Charctic Interactive Sea Ice Graph.

Credit: M. Scott, NSIDC
High-resolution image

This year’s minimum set on September 18 was 760,000 square kilometers (293,000 square miles) above the record minimum extent in the satellite era, which occurred on September 17, 2012, and 2.10 million square kilometers (811,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average minimum extent.

Thirteen lowest minimum Arctic sea ice extents (satellite record, 1979 to present)

Table 1. Thirteen lowest minimum Arctic sea ice extents (satellite record, 1979 to present)
RANK YEAR MINIMUM ICE EXTENT DATE
IN MILLIONS OF SQUARE KILOMETERS IN MILLIONS OF SQUARE MILES
1 2012 3.39 1.31 Sept. 17
2 2019
2007
2016
4.15
4.16
4.17
1.60
1.61
1.61
Sept. 18
Sept. 18
Sept. 10
5 2011 4.34 1.68 Sept. 11
6 2015 4.43 1.71 Sept. 9
7 2008
2010
4.59
4.62
1.77
1.78
Sept. 19
Sept. 21
9 2018
2017
4.66
4.67
1.80
1.80
Sept. 23
Sept. 13
11 2014
2013
5.03
5.05
1.94
1.95
Sept. 17
Sept. 13
13 2009 5.12 1.98 Sept. 13

Values within 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) are considered tied. The 2018 value has changed from 4.59 to 4.66 million square kilometers (1.80 million square miles) when final analysis data updated near-real time data, dropping 2018 to a tied ninth position with 2017.

Sloshing Around in the Polar Twilight

The end of the Arctic sea ice melt season is nigh. The last couple of weeks have seen small rises and falls in ice extent, primarily due to changes in wind patterns. However, falling temperatures will soon accelerate the pace of ice growth.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for XXXX XX, 20XX was X.XX million square kilometers (X.XX million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for September 16, 2019, was 4.21 million square kilometers (1.62 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Arctic sea ice extent was 4.21 million square kilometers (1.62 million square miles) on September 16, which is likely near the seasonal minimum extent that is expected within the next week. The last two weeks have seen periods of declining extent along with periods of little change or even gains in extent. From August 30 through September 5, there was a total loss of about 320,000 square kilometers (123,600 square miles). The ice cover then experienced an increase in extent from September 7 through 10. From September 10 through 16, the decline resumed, dropping 118,000 square kilometers (45,600 square miles).

Conditions in context

Figure 2. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of XXXXX XX, 20XX, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 20XX in purple, and 20XX in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of September 16, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for September 5 to 10, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure. ||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division |High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for September 5 to 10, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for September 10 to 14, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure. ||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division |High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for September 10 to 14, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Rises and falls in extent are not unusual when nearing the sea ice minimum; the sea ice edge is in near-equilibrium with ocean and atmospheric temperatures. However, variable winds can either push the edge outward to increase ice extent or compact areas of lower-concentration ice to decrease ice extent. From August 26 to August 30, the overall change in extent was near zero; surface winds as depicted in the NCEP Reanalysis during this period pushed ice southward in Beaufort, Chukchi, and East Siberian Seas sectors, while winds from the south led to declines in extent in the East Greenland and Barents Seas.

From August 30 through September 5, strong winds from the south in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and East Siberian Seas pushed the ice edge northward. Essentially, the expansion at the end of August was reversed. Ice loss in the East Greenland Sea and the Canadian Archipelago also contributed to the overall extent decline during this period.

Conditions changed once again from September 5 through September 10. Extent declined only slightly until September 7 and then increased. Again, variable winds played a leading role. Winds from the north persisted on the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean, but strong winds from the west in the Barents, Kara, and East Greenland Seas, as indicated by strong low pressure centered near the North Pole (Figure 2b), led to an increase in extent there. The Canadian Archipelago region also gained ice, reflecting low temperatures and the onset of freeze-up.

After September 10, the decline in ice extent resumed, with losses particularly north of Svalbard and between Svalbard and Franz Josef Land. This was related to northward winds as a low pressure center moved south to the east of Greenland. To a lesser degree, the ice also retreated northward on the Pacific side, also related to northward winds in the Chukchi and East Siberian Sea sectors. Southward winds prevailed in the Beaufort Sea, but these did not extend the ice edge southward, possibly because of warm waters that melted ice. Ice growth continued in the Canadian Archipelago.

Sea ice hanging on in the Beaufort Sea

Figure 3. This shows a true-color composite image of a tongue of ice that has persisted in the eastern Beaufort Sea. This tongue mostly consists of thin, small floes of ice close to melting completely, interspersed by thicker, large floes and (likely) multi-year ice. Image taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the NASA Terra satellite on September 9, 2019. ||Credit: Land Atmosphere Near-Real Time Capability for EOS (LANCE) System, NASA/GSFC. |High-resolution image

Figure 3. This shows a true-color composite image of a tongue of ice that has persisted in the eastern Beaufort Sea. This tongue mostly consists of thin, small floes of ice close to melting completely, interspersed by thicker, large floes and (likely) multi-year ice. Image taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the NASA Terra satellite on September 9, 2019.

Credit: Land Atmosphere Near-Real Time Capability for EOS (LANCE) System, NASA/GSFC.
High-resolution image

While most of the ice in the Beaufort Sea has melted out well beyond the Alaskan and Canadian coasts, a tongue of ice has persisted in the eastern Beaufort, just off the western coast of Banks Island. MODIS imagery from NASA Worldview shows that this tongue mostly consists of thin, small floes of ice close to melting completely, interspersed by thicker, large floes and (likely) multi-year ice. Most of this ice will likely survive the melt season.

 

Shipping passages and the MOSAiC expedition

The southern (Amundsen) route of the Northwest Passage appears to be open, but only via the narrow Bellot Strait between Somerset Island and the Boothia Peninsula; the wider passage through Peel Sound on the west side of Somerset Island still has ice in the mouth of the sound. The Northern Sea Route is open with the largest constriction just east of Severnaya Zemlya.

The German icebreaker Polarstern will leave port from Tromso, Norway, on September 20 and head north into the ice. It will be frozen into Arctic sea ice for the next year as part of the MOSAiC expedition, and scientists aboard will conduct numerous experiments—collecting data on ocean, ice, and atmospheric conditions. The U.S. lead scientist for the project, Matthew Shupe, is at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), of which NSIDC is a part. NSIDC senior research scientist Julienne Stroeve will be on the ship for several weeks this coming winter. Readers can expect much more information on MOSAiC from CIRES in the coming months.

Summer’s not over until bottom melt ends

While Arctic sea ice extent was tracking at record low levels in July and August, the pace of ice loss slowed considerably after the middle of August, despite above-average air temperatures over much of the Arctic Ocean. By August 14, extent started tracking above levels observed in 2012, resulting in the second lowest August extent in the satellite record. Although Arctic air temperatures are now falling below freezing, sea ice loss will likely continue for several weeks as heat stored in the ocean melts the underside of sea ice. Winds can also compress the pack further reducing sea ice extent. As of this post, the rate of sea ice loss has sped up again.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for XXXX 20XX was X.XX million square kilometers (X.XX million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for August 2019 was 5.03 million square kilometers (1.94 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

On August 14, Arctic sea ice extent began tracking above 2012 levels, and continued to do so for the remainder of the month, resulting in a monthly average extent of 5.03 million square kilometers (1.94 million square miles). This is 310,000 square kilometers (120,000 square miles) above the 2012 average extent, the lowest in the satellite record, and 2.17 million square kilometers (838,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average for August. On August 13, ice extent dropped below 5 million square kilometers (1.9 million square miles). This never occurred prior to 2007, but has occurred every subsequent year apart from 2009 and 2013. Overall sea ice retreat during the second half of August was modest, taking place along the periphery of the ice edge within the Arctic Ocean. Sea ice concentrations remain low over many areas, especially along the ice edge in the Beaufort Sea and within the Laptev Sea.

For the month as a whole, sea ice loss was most pronounced in the East Siberian Sea as the ice that had persisted in that region finally melted out. The ice edge is presently far north of its climatological average position everywhere except for a tongue of ice in the eastern part of the Beaufort Sea west of Banks Island, and around the island of Svalbard, where the ice edge remains near or slightly south of its average location for this time of year. While sea ice concentrations from the passive microwave record suggest that the Northwest Passage southerly route, or Amundsen’s route, is free of ice, operational ice analyses, which employ higher resolution visible band and radar satellite data, show some remaining ice around the Prince of Wales Island. The more northerly route through the Parry Channel and M’Clure Strait still has significant amounts of ice and will likely not open this year.

On August 31, sea ice extent dropped to 4.62 million square kilometers (1.78 million square miles), the third lowest extent for this date in the satellite record.

Conditions in context

Figure 2. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of XXXXX XX, 20XX, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 20XX in purple, and 20XX in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of September 4, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2X. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for XXXmonthXX 20XX. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division| High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, from August 15 to 31, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

During the second half of August, air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above the surface) were above average over most of the Arctic Ocean. Temperatures over the East Siberian through the Laptev and Kara Seas were 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1981 to 2010 average. Air temperatures over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago were up to 3 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) above average. By contrast, air temperatures around Svalbard were around 1 degree Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) below average (Figure 2b). Cold conditions were also present in the southern Beaufort Sea and in the Yukon and MacKenzie districts of Canada’s Northwest Territories.

During the third week of August, a cyclone developed over the Northwest Territories and entered the Beaufort Sea on August 23. It then moved east over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This cyclone began pulling warm air from the south over northwestern Greenland and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and into the Lincoln Sea. While this cyclone was short-lived, air temperatures during the cyclone passage within the Lincoln Sea were up to 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1981 to 2010 average. While a notable event, the storm does not appear to have had much of an effect on ice extent.

August 2019 compared to previous years

Figure 3. Monthly XXXXX ice extent for 1979 to 201X shows a decline of X.X percent per decade.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center| High-resolution image

Figure 3. Monthly August ice extent for 1979 to 2019 shows a decline of 10.59 percent per decade.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Overall, the pace of ice loss in August 2019 was 54,900 square kilometers (21,200 square miles) per day. This was considerably slower than the 2012 rate of decline of 89,500 square kilometers (34,600 square miles) per day, but only slightly slower than the 1981 to 2010 climatological rate of decline of 57,300 square kilometers (22,100 square miles) per day. In total, 1.70 million square kilometers (656,000 square miles) of ice were lost during August 2019. The linear rate of sea ice decline for August from 1979 to 2019 is 76,200 square kilometers (29,400 square miles) per year, or 10.59 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

The melt season is not over until bottom melt ends

Time series from the Beaufort Sea in 2005 – 2006 of ice thickness (red line), growth rate (blue bars with negative values), bottom melt (blue bars with positive values), and surface melt (dark blue line with points). Both surface and bottom melt started on 10 June. Surface melt peaked on 1 August and peak bottom melt was two weeks later on 15 August. Surface melting ended on 24 August, while bottom melting continued until 24 October. Image from Don Perovich.

Figure 4a. This 2005 to 2006 time series from the Beaufort Sea shows ice thickness (red line), growth rate (blue bars with negative values), bottom melt (blue bars with positive values), and surface melt (dark blue line with points). Both surface and bottom melt started on June 10. Surface melt peaked on August 1, and peak bottom melt was two weeks later on August 15. Surface melting ended on August 24, while bottom melting continued until October 24.

Credit: Don Perovich
High-resolution image

Figure 4b. Sea surface temperature (from NOAA dOISST) and ice concentration (NSIDC Sea Ice Index) for 25 August 2019. The locations of 3 UpTempO drifting buoys are marked as 1, 2 and 7. Data from UptempO drifting buoy locations is available for downloading here.

Figure 4b. This map shows sea surface temperature and ice concentration for August 25, 2019. The locations of three Upper layer Temperature of the Polar Oceans (UpTempO) drifting buoys are marked as 1, 2, and 7. Sea surface temperature data are from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration daily Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST), and ice concentration from the NSIDC Sea Ice Index. Download data from UptempO drifting buoy locations.

Credit: University of Washington
High-resolution image

By August, the sun hangs low on the horizon in the Arctic, air temperatures drop below the freezing, melt ponds begin to freeze, and the first snows fall. It seems as though summer is over, but it is not. Even though surface melting has largely ended, there still is ample heat remaining in the ocean and the bottom of the ice is still melting. Colleague Don Perovich discussed these issues at the International Glaciological Society: Sea Ice at the Interface meeting, held August 18 to 23, 2019 in Winnipeg, Canada. Surface melting peaks in July and usually ends in mid-August. By contrast, bottom melting peaks in August and often continues into September or October (Figure 4a). This is supported by observations in regions with early sea ice retreat like the Chukchi, Bering, Laptev, and Kara Seas, where sea surface temperatures were 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher on August 25 (Figure 4b).

Update on ice conditions in the Northwest Passage

Figure 5a. The time series shows total sea ice area for 2019, 2011 and the 1981-2010 median within the northern route of the Northwest Passage. Data is from the Canadian Ice Service.

Figure 5a. This time series shows total sea ice area for 2019, 2011, and the 1981 to 2010 median within the northern route of the Northwest Passage.

Credit: Canadian Ice Service
High-resolution image

Figure 5b. The time series shows total sea ice area for 2019, 2011 and the 1981-2010 median within the southern route of the Northwest Passage. Data is from the Canadian Ice Service.

Figure 5b. The time series shows total sea ice area for 2019, 2011, and the 1981 to2010 median within the southern route of the Northwest Passage.

Credit: Canadian Ice Service
High-resolution image

As of August 26, sea ice area in the northern (deep water) route of the Northwest Passage is currently tracking just below the 1981 to 2010 average (Figure 5a). Concentrations are well above the record low for this area recorded in 2011, with 83 percent of the ice cover consisting of multiyear ice. It is unlikely the northern route will open this year. By sharp contrast, the southern route of the Northwest Passage, Amundsen’s route, is tracking well below the 1981 to 2010 average and just above 2011 (Figure 5b). Areas of low ice concentration are still present to the east and south of Prince of Wales Island but it is likely the southern route will completely clear in the coming weeks. The Northern Sea Route along the Siberian coast has been essentially open for several weeks.

Another year of sea ice loss in the Beaufort Sea

Figure 6a. MODIS Imagery over the Beaufort Sea from April 4 and May 30, 2019. Showing the transition from an ice-covered Sea to the vast areas of open water that were dynamically created. ||Credit: NASA Worldview|High-resolution image

Figure 6a. This NASA Worldview image taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the NASA Terra satellite shows the Beaufort Sea on April 4 and May 30, 2019. The two images show a transition in sea ice extent where the April 4 image depicts an ice-covered sea while the May 30 image contains large areas of open water.

Credit: NASA Worldview
High-resolution image

Figure 6b. Mean fields of ice drift and sea level pressure in the Arctic from April 1 to May 31, 2019. Ice Drift data is from OSI SAF Low Resolution Sea Ice Drift product (http://osisaf.met.no/p/ice/index.html#lrdrift) and SLP fields are from NCEP reanalysis.

Figure 6b. This map of the Arctic shows average fields of ice drift and sea level pressure (SLP) from April 1 to May 31, 2019. Ice Drift data is from Ocean and Sea Ice (OSI) Satellite Application Facilities (SAF) Low Resolution Sea Ice Drift product and SLP fields are from National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis.

Credit: Meteorologisk Institutt and NCEP
High-resolution image

Sea ice loss during 2019 has been particularly pronounced in the Beaufort Sea, where only a dispersed tongue of multiyear sea ice remains. On August 31, sea ice extent fell to its sixth lowest in the 40-year satellite record and continues the long-term trend towards the Beaufort becoming seasonally ice free, meaning that no ice survives the melt season. Recent work by David Babb and colleagues at the University of Manitoba has focused on the dynamic and thermodynamic processes influencing summer sea ice loss in the Beaufort Sea, and connected summer ice loss back to the timing of sea ice breakup.

In early April 2019, a consolidated mix of first year and multiyear sea ice covered the Beaufort Sea (Figure 6a). However, high sea level pressure over the western Arctic during April and May increased ice export out of the Beaufort Sea (Figure 6b), dynamically opening up the region and dropping its sea ice area by 50 percent in May. (Sea ice area represents the area of a grid cell multiplied by the ice concentration.) The transition from a snow-covered icescape to vast areas of open water occurred between one to two months earlier than usual, initiating a cycle of increased open water—increased solar energy absorption—and therefore accelerated ice melt (ice-albedo feedback). Subsequently, regional sea ice area in June fell to one of its lowest values in the satellite record, indicating that the Beaufort was bound to once again become ice free in September like it had in 2012 and 2016. However, ice import during June and July generated a tongue of multiyear ice in the eastern Beaufort Sea that led to positive thickness anomalies in July and persisted through summer. Low sea ice once again characterizes the Beaufort Sea, where nine of the ten lowest sea ice areas occurred within the last 13 years. Sea ice extent has a significant negative trend in this region, losing 5,006 square kilometers (1,933 square miles) per year at the end of August. While it will be interesting to see if this multiyear ice tongue persists through September, it will also be instructive to see how the warm surface waters affect fall freeze up, which may then impact the 2019 to 2020 ice growth season.

Antarctic sea ice note

Sea ice surrounding Antarctica has grown at a faster-than-average pace since late July, climbing from a record low level on July 25 to about tenth lowest at the end of August. Most of the increase in extent was along the sea ice edge of the Weddell and Cosmonaut Seas, and north of Wilkes Land, while the northern Ross Sea and Amundsen Sea saw significant ice retreat. The annual sea ice maximum for Antarctic sea ice is usually around October 1.

Further reading

Babb, D. G., J. C. Landy, D. G. Barber, and R. J. Galley. 2019. Winter sea ice export from the Beaufort Sea as a preconditioning mechanism for enhanced summer melt: A case study of 2016. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 124, doi:10.1029/2019JC015053.

Galley, R. J., D. Babb, M. Ogi, B. G. T. Else, N.-X. Geilfus, O. Crabeck, D. G. Barber, and S. Rysgaard. 2016. Replacement of multiyear sea ice and changes in the open water season duration in the Beaufort Sea since 2004, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 121, doi:10.1002/2015JC011583.

 

Dead heat

At mid-month, Arctic sea ice extent is tracking close to 2012, the year with the lowest minimum in the satellite record. Sea ice volume is also tracking at low levels. Smoke from Siberian wildfires continues to cover much of the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean, but as solar input declines this late in the melt season, it is unlikely to impact sea ice loss.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1a. Arctic sea ice extent for XXXX XX, 20XX was X.XX million square kilometers (X.XX million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1a. Arctic sea ice extent for August 14, 2019 was 5.04 million square kilometers (1.95 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Comparison map

Figure 1b. This map compares Arctic sea ice extents between August 14, 2012 and August 14, 2019 from the NSIDC comparison tool.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

From August 1 to 14, sea ice extent declined at a daily rate of 91,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles), still above the 1981 to 2010 rate of decline of 71,000 square kilometers (27,400 square kilometers) during this period. However, this is still below the decline of 112,000 square kilometers (43,000 square miles) per day observed in 2012. At the beginning of the month, the 2019 ice extent was well below 2012. Because the decline through August was slower, the 2019 and 2012 sea ice extents are now close to each other. Because 2012 is a leap year, and our tracking follows the day of the year, August 13 in 2012 is August 14 in non-leap years. The ice extent for August 14, 2019 is 5.04 million square kilometers (1.95 million square miles), approximately 100,000 square kilometers (38,600 square miles) higher than for August 14, 2012 (Figure 1a).

Sea ice retreat in the first half of August 2019 was mainly in an area of patchy sea ice in the East Siberian Sea and along the ice edge in the northern Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The Northern Sea Route appears to be open in our satellite-based mapping, but ice may remain in some areas. The Northwest Passage is still closed. There was little change in the ice edge in the Svalbard region and northern Barents and Laptev Seas. However, areas of low sea ice concentration are present along much of the remaining ice edge.

A comparison of 2019 and 2012 ice extent for August 14 shows remarkable similarities. In 2012, some patchy ice remained in the east Siberian Sea; however, the ice edge in the northeastern Beaufort and northern Chukchi Seas was further north, and some larger channels in the Canadian Archipelago were open (Figure 1b).

Conditions in context

Figure 2. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of XXXXX XX, 20XX, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 20XX in purple, and 20XX in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of August 14, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for July 1 - 14, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division |High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for August 1 to 13, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Over the first half of the month, air temperatures along the Siberian coast at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above the surface) were generally 2 to 7 degrees Celsius (4 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1981 to 2010 average, and 1 to 6 degrees Celsius (2 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit) above average over the Canadian Archipelago (Figure 2b). This was partly balanced by below-average temperatures in northern Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula by 4 to 6 degrees Celsius (7 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit), a sharp counterpoint to the near-record heat of the late July European heat wave. Near-average temperatures prevailed over the central Arctic Ocean and slightly lower-than-average temperatures were present along the North Slope of Alaska and northwestern Canada. The atmospheric circulation was characterized by high pressure over the Northern Pacific, the Aleutians, and Greenland, and by a center of lower air pressure over northern European Russia. This combination drove cool Arctic air into Scandinavia and easternmost Russia.

Smoke gets in your ice

Figure 3. This NASA Worldview MODIS mosaic image from August 10, 2019, shows the locations of wildfires in the Arctic as detected by thermal images (not shown). Red areas indicate wildfires. Huge areas of burning forests in Siberia have filled the air with smoke over much of the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean.||Credit: NASA Worldview| High-resolution image

Figure 3. This NASA Worldview image from August 10, 2019, shows the locations of wildfires in the Arctic as detected by thermal images (not shown). Red areas indicate wildfires. Huge areas of burning forests in Siberia have filled the air with smoke over much of the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean. This image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the NASA Terra satellite.

Credit: NASA Worldview
High-resolution image

Huge areas of burning forests in Siberia have filled the air with smoke over much of the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean. However, at this late stage in the melt season, with rapidly declining solar input, it is unlikely to have much impact on sea ice loss. The fires are a result of the very warm and dry spring and summer conditions over the eastern Siberian Arctic.

There is such a thing as too thin

Figure 4a. This figure shows average Arctic sea ice thickness by month for several recent years as determined by PIOMAS.||Credit: Axel Schweiger, University of Washington| High-resolution image

Figure 4a. This figure shows average Arctic sea ice thickness by month from 1980 t0 2019 as determined by the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS).

Credit: Axel Schweiger, University of Washington
High-resolution image

Figure 4b. This map shows Arctic sea ice thickness difference from average, relative to 2011 to 2018, from PIOMAS. ||Credit: Axel Schwieger/University of Washington| High-resolution image

Figure 4b. This map shows Arctic sea ice thickness in July 2019 as a difference from average (in meters), relative to 2011 to 2018, from the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS).

Credit: Axel Schweiger, University of Washington
High-resolution image

Arctic sea ice volume, as estimated by a well-validated model produced by our colleagues at the University of Washington, is tracking at low levels as seen from satellite observations (Figure 4a). Arctic sea ice cover is thus very thin in addition to being very low in extent. Average Arctic sea ice thickness is estimated to be less than half of what it was at this time of year in 1980.

Sea ice thickness follows the change in the seasons. Early in the year, cold conditions and snowfall steadily thicken the sea ice. At the start of the melt season, typically in March, the thinner southern edges of sea ice cover melt first. Hence, the average thickness of the remaining sea ice increases, even though spring ice retreat has begun. By June, when much of the Arctic Ocean surface has reached the melting point, rapid thinning of the ice pack begins. Thickness and extent both reach a minimum in September. However, even though ice extent continues to decline through August, average sea ice thickness begins to increase slightly as the thinner ice at the edge melts away. Then, after the minimum extent, typically reached in mid-September, a rapid increase of sea ice extent begins, with thin sea ice covering large areas of the Arctic Ocean in a few weeks. This rapid increase of very thin ice reduces the average ice thickness, even though sea ice extent is increasing rapidly.

Is a new record minimum possible?

Figure 5. Comparison of several possible sea ice decline paths for 2019 with the 2012 minimum.

Figure 5. This figure compares 2019 projections of sea ice minimum extents based on rates of decline from previous years. The red line uses the rate of decline from the 1981 to 2010 reference period. The green line uses the rate of decline from 2007 to 2018 average. The dotted purple line uses the 2012 rate of decline and the dotted turquoise line uses the 2006 rate of decline.

Credit: Walt Meier, NSIDC
High-resolution image

The ASINA team conducted a revised analysis of the likely course of the 2019 Arctic summer sea ice minimum, using rates of loss from several recent years. While sea ice extent is now above extent for the same date in 2012, overall our projection for the minimum is lower than estimated in our previous post. Using the average decline rate of the past 12 years, from 2007 to 2018, the 2019 minimum is estimated to be 3.75 million square kilometers (1.45 million square miles). If the 2012 decline pattern is applied from August 14 forward, sea ice reaches 3.44 million square kilometers (1.33 million square miles). This is still above the 2012 summer minimum extent of 3.39 million square kilometers (1.31 million square miles). However, nearly all of the recent rates of sea ice loss lead to 2019 being second lowest in ice extent, surpassing 2007 and 2016.

Erratum

Readers alerted us to an error. On August 15, 2019, we reported that “Because 2012 is a leap year, and our tracking follows the day of the year, August 15 in 2012 is August 14 in non-leap years.” On August 26, 2019, we corrected this to say “August 13 in 2012 is August 14 in non-leap years.”

Europe’s heat wave moves north

Arctic sea ice extent in July tracked at record low levels for multiple individual days and for the month as a whole. During the second half of the month, air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean returned to average, while Europe experienced another record-breaking heat wave. By the end of the month, the European heat wave had moved north, enhancing melt over the Greenland ice sheet.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for XXXX 20XX was X.XX million square kilometers (X.XX million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for July 2019 was 7.59 million square kilometers (2.93 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Arctic sea ice extent for July 2019 set a new record low of 7.59 million square kilometers (2.93 million square miles). The monthly average extent was 80,000 square kilometers (30,900 square miles) below the previous record low set in 2012 and 1.88 million square kilometers (726,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. On a daily basis, ice tracked at record low levels from July 10 through July 14 and July 20 through the end of the month. Ice retreated over most regions of the Arctic Ocean, especially over the Laptev Sea, northern Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and Hudson Bay, where no ice remained at the end of the month. There was little retreat in the Barents Sea where the ice edge had already pulled back to its average northward position for this time of year. Ice also continued to linger along the coast in the East Siberian Sea near the Russian port town of Pevek and Wrangel Island. However, the sea ice concentrations in the region are now low, with many open water areas between ice floes. By the end of the month, the Northern Sea Route that links Europe and Asia through the East Siberian and Laptev Seas appeared to be essentially open, whereas the Northwest Passage (both the southern and northern routes) remained blocked by ice.

Conditions in context

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of XXXXX XX, 20XX, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 20XX in purple, and 20XX in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of July 31, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent decline per decade since satellite observations began in 1979. 1979 to 1989 is shown in light pink, the 1990s in dark pink, the 2000s in magenta, and the 201os in purple. 2019 is shown in a thick purple line ending on July 31, 2019, while the 2012 record low is also marked. ||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2b. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent decline per decade since satellite observations began in 1979. 1979 to 1989 is shown in light pink, the 1990s in dark pink, the 2000s in magenta, and the 201os in purple. 2019 is shown in a thick purple line ending on July 31, 2019, while the 2012 record low is also marked. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for July 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures. ||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division | High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for July 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

July is typically the warmest month of the year, with the largest rate of ice loss. Sea ice extent this July declined at an average rate of 105,700 square kilometers (40,800 square miles) per day, exceeding the 1981 to 2010 average of 86,800 square kilometers (33,500 square miles) per day. Only seven previous years—1990, 1991, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2018—experienced daily rates of ice loss exceeding 100,000 square kilometers (38,600 square miles) per day, with 2007 holding the record low of 114,200 square kilometers (44,100 square miles) per day.

Rapid ice loss for July 2019 was in part driven by warm conditions during the first half of the month. The latter half of the month, in contrast, was relatively cool over the East Siberian and Laptev Seas, as well as near Svalbard and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, where temperatures at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above the surface) were 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (2 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) below the 1981 to 2010 average. These relatively cool conditions were the result of below average sea level pressure centered over the East Siberian Sea, coupled with above average sea level pressure over the west Siberian Plain, which brought cold air southwards and helped to push the ice towards the coast. However, by July 30, the heat wave that had been plaguing Europe moved north, baking Greenland with temperatures at the 925 hPa level 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) above average while parts of the Arctic Ocean saw temperatures 1 to 7 degrees Celsius (2 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) above average. During this heat wave, about 60 percent of the Greenland ice sheet experienced melt. Despite the fluctuations during the month, the average monthly temperature was above average over most of the Arctic Ocean (Figure 2c).

By the beginning of August, the pace of ice loss tends to drop rapidly. 2012 was an exception, when the average August ice loss rate remained quite rapid at 89,500 square kilometers per day (34,600 square miles per day), leading to a new record low for the September minimum that year. As of August 5, 2019, the total sea ice extent has dropped below 6 million square kilometers, something which has not occurred prior to 1999. Sea ice extent in September of 2019 is likely to be among the five lowest minimums recorded.

July 2019 compared to previous years

Figure 3. Monthly XXXXX ice extent for 1979 to 201X shows a decline of X.X percent per decade.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center| High-resolution image

Figure 3. Monthly July ice extent for 1979 to 2019 shows a decline of 7.32 percent per decade.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

In total, sea ice extent during July 2019 decreased by 3.28 million square kilometers (1.27 million square miles). This was larger than the 1981 to 2010 average loss for the month. The linear rate of sea ice decline for July from 1979 to 2019 is 693,000 square kilometers (268,000 square miles) per year, or 7.32 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

Early melt brings early ice break-up and warmer ocean temperatures to the Beaufort Sea

Figure 4. Melt onset for 2019 expressed as differences (in days) with respect to 1981 to 2010 averages based on the passive microwave satellite data record. ||Credit: Data courtesy of Jeff Miller at NASA GSFC. | High-resolution image

Figure 4a. This map shows the 2019 melt onset expressed as differences (in days) with respect to 1981 to 2010 averages. Values are based on the passive microwave satellite data record.

Credit: Data courtesy of Jeff Miller at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
High-resolution image

Figure 4b. Sea surface temperature in degrees Celsius for July 31, 2019 from the University of Washington Polar Science Center UpTempO buoys and satellite-derived values from NOAA. ||Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization| High-resolution image

Figure 4b. This map of the Arctic Ocean shows sea surface temperature in degrees Celsius for July 31, 2019. Data are from the University of Washington Polar Science Center UpTempO buoys and satellite-derived values from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)
High-resolution image

As mentioned in our July mid-month post, numerous ice floes have broken away from the main pack ice in the southern Beaufort Sea. This was in part fueled by early melt onset; ice began to melt nearly a month earlier than average (Figure 4a). Melt also started earlier than average within the northern Bering and southern Chukchi Seas and also within Baffin Bay along the west coast of Greenland. Melt onset over the central Arctic Ocean near the longitudes of the Laptev Sea, the Lincoln Sea, and parts of Hudson Bay was up to 20 days earlier than average. The timing of melt onset plays an important role in melt pond development and ice breakup, both of which allow for more solar radiation to be absorbed in the upper ocean, promoting more ice melt. The timing of melt pond development has been shown to be a useful predictor of how much ice will be left at the end of summer. The impact of this year’s early melt onset is evident in sea surface temperatures along the coast of Alaska and the Chukchi Sea, which are at least 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above average (Figure 4b).

Wildfires continue to rage across Arctic region

Figure 6a. MODIS image from July 24, 2019. Red dots show locations of fires. ||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center| High-resolution image

Figure 5a. This image from July 24, 2019 from the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor shows the locations of fires (red dots) in the Arctic. Since the beginning of June, more than 100 large wildfires have been observed

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 6b. Fire radiative power from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). Fire radiative power is a measure of heat output from wildfires as shown for June 2019 (red) and the 2003-2018 average (grey). ||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center| High-resolution image

Figure 5b. This figure shows the Total Fire Radiative Power (TFRP) in the Arctic Circle detected by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). Fire radiative power is a measure of heat output from wildfires as shown for June 2019 (red) and the 2003 to 2018 average (grey).

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 6c. Caption Needed||Credit: NASA Worldview|High-resolution image

Figure 5c. In this photo taken during a NOAA flight north of Utqiagvik, Alaska, sea ice appears to be highly decayed with deep melt ponds.

Credit: Kevin Woods, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
High-resolution image

Another factor that plays a role in ice melt is deposition of dark soot from wildfires on the highly reflective snow and ice surfaces, allowing more of the sun’s energy to be absorbed. Since the beginning of June, more than 100 large wildfires have been observed over Arctic lands, including Alaska, Greenland, and Siberia (Figure 5a). Smoke from these fires has been observed to blow across Greenland and over sea ice areas. Wildfires do not only deposit soot, they also pose a health hazard to local communities. According to the European Union Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS), the fires this year are far more intense than normal, with a Total Fire Radiative Power (TFRP) up to about 10 times higher than average for a given date (Figure 5b). TFRP is derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and incorporates the thermal radiation (intensity of buring) and the amount of smoke produced. Further, the fires release a substantial amount of carbon dioxide. The report notes that these fires have released as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as the annual total emissions of Sweden, or more than 50 megatons of this greenhouse gas; this is more than all fires within the same month between 2010 and 2018.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been tracking the melt season with aircraft flights over the ice north of Utqiagvik, Alaska, as part of its Arctic Heat program. While onboard some of these flights in mid-July, Kevin Woods of the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab in Seattle, Washington took several photos of the sea ice (Figure 5c). The ice appeared to be highly decayed with deep melt ponds, many melted completely through the ice. In other areas, the ice was sparse with isolated floes surrounded by open water. Much of this is likely to melt out completely by the end of the summer.

Open water again north of Greenland

Figure 7. Sea ice as seen from an aircraft over Utqiagvik, Alaska. The ice appeared to be highly decayed with deep melt ponds, many melted completely through the ice. ||Credit: Kevin Woods, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab | High-resolution image | High-resolution image

Figure 6. This true-color composite image taken by the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor shows sea ice as seen from an aircraft over Peary Land, Northeast Greenland. Areas of open water have appeared on the north coast of Greenland where two large floes that were fast ice broke away last week.

Credit: NASA
High-resolution image

Once again, areas of open water have appeared on the north coast of Greenland. A similar situation was observed during two periods in 2018, including one in mid-winter and one in late summer. Two large floes that were fast ice (attached to the coast) broke away last week (Figure 6). The largest floe is roughly 110 kilometers by 65 kilometers (70 miles by 40 miles), about 50 percent larger than the state of Rhode Island.

Antarctic update

Figure 8. Antarctic sea ice extent for May 2019 was 8.80 million square kilometers (3.40 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 7. Antarctic sea ice extent for May 2019 was 15.30 million square kilometers (5.91 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Antarctic sea ice growth has been slightly slower than average since the end of the austral summer in March, pushing an already-low sea ice extent lower. By July, Antarctic sea ice extent was tracking among the lowest in the continuous satellite record. The other near-record years were widely dispersed (1983, 1986, 2002, and 2017), underscoring the high variability of Antarctic sea ice. While an overall positive linear trend is still evident in the 40-year Antarctic sea ice extent record, variability dominates, with 2014 being a record high maximum and 2017 a record low maximum extent.

Our site has from time to time noted the comings and goings of the Maud Rise Polynya, an opening within the pack ice thought to form when deeper warm water is forced to the surface. In late July, a similar feature formed in the Cosmonaut Sea, the name for the area of the Southern Ocean along the western coast of Enderby Land (40 degrees to 55 degrees E longitude). The Cosmonaut Sea Polynya has been identified and studied for many years, first in 1987. It can appear in July or August as the sea ice edge expands northward over a region near 66 degrees S, 43 degrees E, occurring in about a third of the winter sea ice seasons. The polynya is formed by a combination of ocean currents and winds that create an upward dome shape in warmer, or a few degrees above freezing, deep ocean layers. If this warmer water mixes upward, it prevents the formation of sea ice even as cold winter weather freezes adjacent areas.

References

Comiso, J. C. and Gordon, A. L. 1987. Recurring polynyas over the Cosmonaut Sea and the Maud Rise. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans. doi: 10.1029/JC092iC03p02819.

Schröder, D., D. L. Feltham, D. Flocco, and M. Tsamados. 2014. September Arctic sea-ice minimum predicted by spring melt-pond fraction. Nature: Climate Change. doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE2203.

Markus, T., J. C. Stroeve, and J. Miller. 2009. Recent changes in Arctic sea ice melt onset, freezeup, and melt season length. Journal of Geophysical Researchdoi:10.1029/2009JC005436.

Stroeve, J. C., T. Markus, L. Boisvert, J. Miller, and A. Barrett. 2014. Changes in Arctic melt season and implications for sea ice loss. Geophysical Research Letters. doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058951.

Beware the Ides of July

Loss of ice extent through the first half of July matched loss rates observed in 2012, the year which had the lowest September sea ice extent in the satellite record. Surface melt has become widespread and there is low concentration ice in the Beaufort Sea. However, projections suggest that a new record low extent is unlikely this year.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for July 15, 2019 was 7.91 million square kilometers (3.05 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for July 15, 2019 was 7.84 million square kilometers (3.03  million square miles). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

As of July 15, Arctic sea ice extent was 7.84 million square kilometers (3.03 million square miles). This is 1.91 million square kilometers (737,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average and nearly the same as the July 14, 2012 extent. Since the beginning of the month, the ice edge has receded in most coastal areas and the open water region in the Laptev Sea has expanded.

Conditions in context

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of July 14, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of July 15, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for July 1 - 14, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division |High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for July 1 – 14, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for July 1 - 14, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure. ||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division |High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for July 1 – 14, 2019. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

The first half of July is generally the period of most rapid ice loss. As averaged over the 1981 to 2010 period, extent drops 80,000 square kilometers (30,900 square miles) per day in the 1981 to 2010 climatology over this period. In recent years, daily loss rates have been higher. This year, most days during the first half of July had rates exceeding 100,000 square kilometers (38,600 square miles) per day, which is similar to what has been observed over the past several years.

It has been warm through mid-July, with air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above the surface) averaging at least 3 degrees C (5 degrees F) above the 1981 to 2010 average over much of the Arctic Ocean and some areas, such as the Chukchi and East Siberian Seas, experiencing temperatures 5 degrees C (9 degrees F) above average. Alaska was subjected to especially warm conditions compared to average, with record highs being set throughout the state early in the month.

High pressure at sea level has persisted into July over the Arctic Ocean, resulting in fairly clear skies that are associated with enhanced surface melt.

Breakup in the Beaufort

Ice floes in the Beaufort Sea

Figure 3a. This shows a true-color composite image of broken up sea ice in the Beaufort Sea, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the NASA Terra satellite on July 8, 2019.

Credit: Land Atmosphere Near-Real Time Capability for EOS (LANCE) System, NASA/GSFC
High-resolution image

Melt ponds form in the Canadian Archipelago

Figure 3b. This image from the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) shows sea ice in the Canadian Archipelago on July 7, 2019. The blue hues indicate areas of widespread surface melt and melt ponds on the surface of the ice.

Credit: Land Atmosphere Near-Real Time Capability for EOS (LANCE) System, NASA/GSFC
High-resolution image

In the southwestern Beaufort Sea, numerous floes have broken away from the main pack ice and have been drifting southward. These will be encountering warm water and will be prone to rapid melt. Nearby in the Canadian Archipelago, the ice has turned a bluish tint in visible imagery, indicating significant surface melt and melt ponds. There is evidence of melt ponds elsewhere over the Arctic Ocean, particularly in the Laptev and East Siberian Seas.

Is a new record low in the offing?

Figure 4. This figure compares 2019 projections of sea ice minimum extents based on rates of decline from previous years. The 2012 minimum extent of 3.39 million square kilometers (1.31 million square miles) is marked with a dashed black line. The red line uses the rate of decline from the 1981 to 2010 reference period. The green line uses the rate of decline from 2007 to 2018 average. The dotted purple line uses the 2012 rate of decline, and the dotted turquoise line uses the 2006 rate of decline.

Credit: W. Meier, NSIDC
High-resolution image

With extent tracking near 2012 levels and atmospheric conditions conducive to rapid ice loss, it is tempting to speculate whether September extent will drop below the record low observed in 2012. A simple way to investigate this possibility is to project forward from this year’s current extent using ice loss rates from other years to estimate extents through the remainder of the summer. Based on this approach, prospects of a new record low appear slim; a new record low would only occur if loss rates followed those observed in 2012, which were very rapid because of persistent warm conditions through the melt season, with ice loss potentially enhanced by the passage of a strong cyclone in August.

Sea ice age update

Figure5a

Figure 5. Sea ice age for (a) January 1-7, 2019 and (b) June 25 - July 1, 2019. The short tongue of ice in the eastern Beaufort Sea in January has been stretched and deformed into the “Z” shaped feature seen in the late June image. NSIDC DAAC Quicklook data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figures 5a and b. The top map shows sea ice age for January 1 to 7, 2019, and the bottom map shows June 25 to July 1, 2019. The short tongue of ice in the eastern Beaufort Sea in January has been stretched and deformed into the “Z” shaped feature seen in the late June image. Quicklook data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

As of the beginning of July, large swaths of first-year ice covered the Arctic Ocean. Thicker, older ice is primarily found in a band between the North Pole, the Canadian Archipelago, and the northern Greenland coast. A narrow strip of second-year ice extends across the Pole into the East Siberian Sea. Another distinctive feature is a “Z” pattern of older ice in the Beaufort Sea induced by the clockwise Beaufort Gyre high pressure pattern, that transported ice eastward and northward over the course of the winter and spring. Some ice got “snagged” on Point Barrow, causing the pattern of old ice to deform into the “Z” shape. With so much first-year ice in the Arctic Ocean and roughly two months left of the melt season, there are many remaining areas of potential ice loss. But how much and where ice is lost will depend significantly on the weather patterns over the next eight weeks.

Melt season shifts into high gear

After a period of slow ice loss in the middle of June, Arctic sea ice loss ramped up, and extent at the end of the month fell below 2012, the year which ended up with the lowest September ice extent in the satellite record. A pattern of atmospheric circulation favored ice loss this June, which was also characterized by above average temperatures over most of the Arctic Ocean, and especially in the Laptev and East Siberian Seas.

Overview of conditions

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for XXXX 20XX was X.XX million square kilometers (X.XX million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 1. Arctic sea ice extent for June 2019 was 10.53 million square kilometers (4.07 million square miles). The magenta line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that month. Sea Ice Index data. About the data

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Arctic sea ice extent for June averaged 10.53 million square kilometers (4.07 million square miles). This is 1.23 million square kilometers (475,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average and 120,000 square kilometers (46,300 square miles) above the previous June record low set in 2016. Extent at the end of the month remained well below average on the Pacific side of the Arctic, with open water extending from the Bering Strait, and along the coasts of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas all the way to Melville Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the open waters have been unusually high, up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above average in the Chukchi Sea, as indicated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) SST data provided on the University of Washington Polar Science Center UpTempO website. Large areas of open water are now apparent in the Laptev and Kara Seas with extent below average in Baffin Bay and along the southeast coast of Greenland.

Extent over the first 10 days of the month dropped quickly but then the loss rate suddenly slowed. From June 12 through June 16, extent remained almost constant at 10.8 million square kilometers (4.17 million square miles). Following this hiatus, extent then dropped fairly quickly through the remainder of the month. Overall, sea ice retreated almost everywhere in the Arctic in June. Exceptions included the northern East Greenland Sea, southeast of Svalbard, near Franz Joseph Land, and in the southeastern part of the Beaufort Sea, where the ice edge expanded slightly.

Conditions in context

Figure 2. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of July 1, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center|High-resolution image

Figure 2a. The graph above shows Arctic sea ice extent as of July 1, 2019, along with daily ice extent data for four previous years and the record low year. 2019 is shown in blue, 2018 in green, 2017 in orange, 2016 in brown, 2015 in purple, and 2012 in dotted brown. The 1981 to 2010 median is in dark gray. The gray areas around the median line show the interquartile and interdecile ranges of the data. Sea Ice Index data.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

Figure 2X. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for June 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division| High-resolution image

Figure 2b. This plot shows the departure from average air temperature in the Arctic at the 925 hPa level, in degrees Celsius, for June 2019. Yellows and reds indicate higher than average temperatures; blues and purples indicate lower than average temperatures.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Figure 2X. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for June 2019. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure.||Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division| High-resolution image

Figure 2c. This plot shows average sea level pressure in the Arctic in millibars (hPa) for June 2019. Yellows and reds indicate high air pressure; blues and purples indicate low pressure.

Credit: NSIDC courtesy NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Physical Sciences Division
High-resolution image

Following May’s theme, air temperatures at the 925 hPa level (about 2,500 feet above the surface) in June were above the 1981 to 2010 average over most of the Arctic Ocean. However, the spatial patterns between the two months were different. While in May, it was particularly warm compared to average over Baffin Bay and a broad area north of Greenland, in June the maximum warmth of more than 6 to 8 degrees Celsius (11 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit) shifted to the Laptev and East Siberian Seas (Figure 2b). It was slightly cooler than average over the northern Barents and Kara Seas and over central Greenland and the western Canadian Arctic.

The atmospheric circulation at sea level featured high pressure over the north American side of the Arctic, with pressure maxima over Greenland and in the Beaufort Sea, paired with low pressure over the Eurasian side of the Arctic, with the lowest pressures over the Kara Sea (Figure 2c). This pattern drew in warm air from the south over the Laptev Sea where temperatures were especially high relative to average. This circulation pattern bears some resemblance to the Arctic Dipole pattern that is known to favor summer sea ice loss, which was particularly well developed through the summer of 2007. So far, the pattern for the 2019 melt season is very different than the past three years, which featured low pressure over the central Arctic Ocean.

June 2019 compared to previous years

Figure 3. Monthly XXXXX ice extent for 1979 to 201X shows a decline of X.X percent per decade.||Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center| High-resolution image

Figure 3. Monthly June ice extent for 1979 to 2019 shows a decline of 4.08 percent per decade.

Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center
High-resolution image

The average extent for June 2019 of 10.53 million square kilometers (4.07 million square miles) ended up as the second lowest in the satellite record. The current record low of 10.41 million square kilometers (4.02 million square miles) was set in June 2016. Overall, sea ice extent during June 2019 decreased by 2.03 million square kilometers (784,00 square miles). Because of the fairly slow loss rate near the middle of the month, the overall loss rate for June ended up being fairly close to the 1981 to 2010 average. The linear rate of sea ice decline for June from 1979 to 2019 is 48,000 square kilometers (19,00 square miles) per year, or 4.08 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average.

Sea Ice Outlook posted for June

Projections of total Arctic sea ice extent based on conditions in May. https://www.arcus.org/sipn/sea-ice-outlook/2019/june

Figure 4. This chart shows the projections of total Arctic sea ice extent based on conditions in May from 31 contributors.

Credit: Sea Ice Prediction Network
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The Sea Ice Prediction Network–Phase 2 recently posted the 2019 Sea Ice Outlook June report. This report focuses on projections of September sea ice extent based on conditions in May. The projections come variously from complex numerical models to statistical models to qualitative perspectives from citizen scientists. There were 31 contributions for projected total Arctic sea ice extent and of these 31, nine also provided projections for extent in Alaska waters, and six provided projections of total Antarctic extent (Figure 4). There were also seven predictions of September extent for Hudson Bay.

The median of the projections for the monthly mean September 2019 total Arctic sea ice sea-ice extent is 4.40 million square kilometers (1.70 million square miles) with quartiles (including 75 percent of the 31 projections) of 4.2 and 4.8 million square kilometers (1.62 and 1.85 million square miles). The observed record low September extent of 3.6 million square kilometers (1.39 million square miles) was set 2012. Only three of the projections are for a September 2019 extent below 4.0 million square kilometers (1.54 million square miles) and only one is for a new record at 3.06 million square kilometers (1.18 million square miles).

Thicker clouds accelerate sea decline

Figure 5. These plots show linear trends of satellite-retrieved cloud cover, percent per year, for March through June over the Arctic (70 to 90 degrees North) from 2000 to 2015. Blues depict declines in cloud cover while reds depict increases. Cloud observations are derived from CERES-MODIS SYN1 Ed3.0 product. || Credit: Huang, Y. et al., 2019, Geophysical Research Letters | High-resolution image

Figure 5. These plots show linear trends of satellite-retrieved cloud cover, percent per year, for March through June over the Arctic (70 to 90 degrees North) from 2000 to 2015. Blues depict declines in cloud cover while reds depict increases. Cloud observations are derived from CERES-MODIS SYN1 Ed3.0 product.

Credit: Huang, Y. et al., 2019, Geophysical Research Letters
High-resolution image

A new study led by Yiyi Huang of the University of Arizona presents evidence of a link between springtime cloud cover (Figure 5) over the Arctic Ocean and the observed decline in sea ice extent. Based on a combination of observations and model experiments, there may be a reinforcing feedback loop. As sea ice melts, there is more open water which promotes more evaporation from the surface and hence more water vapor in the atmosphere. More water vapor in the air then promotes the development of more clouds. This increases the emission of longwave radiation to the surface, further fostering melt. The process appears to be effective from April through June. But since the atmosphere influences the sea ice and the sea ice influences the atmosphere, separating cause and effect remains unclear.

Antarctic sea ice at record low for June

Figure 5.

Figure 6a. This plot shows the evolution of linear trends in annual average sea ice extent for the Arctic, in blue, and Antarctic, in red. The trend was first computed from 1979 through 1990, then from 1979 through 1991, then 1979 through 1992, and so on. Even with the recent declines in Antarctic sea ice extent, the linear trend is still slightly positive. The reason for starting the trend calculation from 1979 through 1990 is that it provides a sufficient number of years to compute a trend.

Credit: W. Meier, NSIDC
High-resolution image

Annual mean sea ice extent from 1979 through 2018 in the Arctic and Antarctic from the Sea Ice Index using the NASA Team sea ice algorithm.

Figure 6b. This plot shows the average annual sea ice extent from 1979 through 2018 in the Arctic, in blue, and Antarctic, in red, from the Sea Ice Index using the NASA Team sea ice algorithm.

Credit: J. Stroeve, NSIDC
High-resolution image

Sea ice surrounding Antarctica was at the lowest mean monthly extent for June, surpassing 2002 and 2017. At the month’s end, sea ice averaged approximately 160,000 square kilometers (62,000 square miles) below the previous record low set in 2002, and over 1.1 million square kilometers (425,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average. Ice extent was particularly low in the eastern Weddell Sea and the region north of Enderby Land (south of the western Indian Ocean), and north of eastern Wilkes Land. No region had substantially above average sea ice extent in June.

A new paper published by our colleague Claire Parkinson at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) discusses the large drop in Antarctic sea ice extent between 2014 and 2017. The winter maximum for 2014 was unusually high, setting the 40-year record maximum extent. Our earlier posts noted the dramatic recent decline, particularly in the austral spring of 2016. Sea ice has remained below the 1981 to 2010 reference period extent since late 2016.

While the recent decline is noteworthy, trends in Antarctic sea ice extent over the continuous satellite record since late 1978 remain slightly positive (Figure 6a). Antarctica experiences large inter-annual variability because of its unconfined geography—open to the Southern Ocean on all sides—and strong influences of the varying Southern Annular Mode pattern of atmospheric circulation. Sparse satellite data from the 1960s indicate large swings in that decade as well. Previous studies have attributed the onset of the recent decline as a response to a series of intense storms. Unlike Arctic sea ice extent, which evinces a longterm downward trend, Antarctic sea ice extent displays enormous variability that is natural for the southern sea ice system (Figure 6b). Thus, a clear climate-related signal cannot yet be discerned for sea ice in the southern hemisphere.

Reference

Gallaher, D. W., G. G. Campbell and W. N. Meier. 2013. Anomalous variability in Antarctic sea ice extents during the 1960s with the use of Nimbus data. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 7(3), pp. 881-887. doi:10.1109/JSTARS.2013.2264391.

Huang, Y., X. Dong, D. A. Bailey, M. M. Holland, B. Xi, A. K. DuVivier, et al. 2019. Thicker clouds and accelerated Arctic sea ice decline: The atmosphere‐sea ice interactions in spring. Geophysical Research Letters, 46. doi:10.1029/2019GL082791.

Parkinson, C. L. 2019. A 40-year record reveals gradual Antarctic sea ice increases followed by decreases at rates far exceeding the rates seen in the Arctic. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), July, pp. 1-10. doi:10.1073/pnas.1906556116.

Turner, J., T. Phillips, G. J. Marshall, J. S. Hosking, J. O. Pope, T. J. Bracegirdle, and P. Deb. 2017. Unprecedented springtime retreat of Antarctic sea ice in 2016. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(13), pp. 6868-6875. doi:10.1002/2017GL073656.