So just how bad is the Arctic ice melt this year? Listening to the alarmists you’d think the world’s ice supply was rapidly dwindling.
When dealing with such phenomena, you have got to pull your eyeballs back a little and take a look at the entire picture to put things in their proper perspective.
The headlines are that Arctic ice melt will reach a record low since satellite measurements have been taken (all the way back to the 1970s, i.e. roughly a whole half an AMO cycle – sarc off).
So how much more Arctic sea ice has melted (been dispersed) this year? Let’s say the Arctic sea ice retreats to 3.5 million km2 by mid September. That would mean 800,000 sq. km less than 2007. That sounds frightening. But how much ice is that? Answer: 800,000 km2 x 0.002 km thick = 1600 cubic km. Holy moly!
Now, how much is that in relation the world’s total ice volume? This is important to know. If it’s 2 or 3%, then we will need to worry.
Using the numbers from Wikipeda we can calculate a rough inventory:
1. Antarctica continent:
Area = 13,700,000 km2 covered with ice
Mean ice thickness: 1.6 km
Ice volume: 21,920,000 km3
2. Antarctica sea ice (Aug):
Area 15,000,000 km2
Mean sea ice thinkness: 0.002 km (rough conservative estimate)
Antarctica sea ice volume = 30,000 km3
3. Greenland
Ice volume (Wikipedia) = 2,850,000 km3
4. Arctic sea ice
Area, September 2007: 4.3 million km2
Average ice thickness: 0.002 km
Total September Arctic sea ice volume = 8600 km3
Adding them up, it yields a total ice volume of: 24,808,600 cubic km stockpiled on the planet (neglecting the glaciers on mountains, which are puny in comparison).
This year in the Arctic, I estimate (see above) that a “whopping” 1600 km3 more Arctic sea ice will have melted by mid September. Yes, 1600 km3 from the total of almost 25 million we have stocked on Earth!
How much is that in percent? (1600 / 24,808,600) x 100 =
0.006%
0.006% more of the world’s ice melted this year. At this rate it’ll take 166 years to see a 1% reduction. This is like taking a glass of ice from a frozen swimming pool. The number is so small that it is outside the statistical margins of certainty. Scientists are not even sure how thick the ice is at many locations. As one reader points out: we are talking about parts per million here! 🙂
This is why it’s just plain stupid to hysterically focus on a thin film of ice at one pole. It’s utter nonsense. Ice-free Arctics happened in the past and are nothing new.
So with the wave of hysteria about to be unleashed by the merchants and prophets of doom in the days and weeks ahead, it will do everyone some good and keep it all in perspective.
Not only should the focus expand beyond the Arctic, but it also has to expand back beyond the cool days of Ronald Reagan. If you want a clear picture of the Arctic, go back and look at the entire Holocene.
Yes, the climate is a little warmer than 30 years ago, and so a little more ice (0.006%) is going to melt. How astonishing.
oh come on, even my 12 yr old nephew has learned in school, “the icecaps are melting”.
sarc/off
OMG! That’s 60 ppm.
[…] https://notrickszone.com/2012/08/27/oh-no-six-thousandths-of-one-percent-0-006-more-of-the-worlds-ice… […]
[…] No Tricks Zone Share this:PrintEmailMoreStumbleUponTwitterFacebookDiggRedditLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. This entry was posted in Climate Change and tagged arctic sea ice. Bookmark the permalink. ← Ed Caryl: Arctic Ice Loss: Temperature Or Soot? […]
well written! Thx Pierre
Interesting to compare:
__18th Sept. 2007 versus
__26th Aug. 2012, here:
http://www.arcticportal.org/news/29-2012-climate/830-seaiceextent26082012
[…] Oh No! Six Thousandths Of One Percent (0.006%) More Of The World’s Ice Melted This Summer! […]
Rahmstorf gets his chance to take his position about arctic case public:
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/eisschmelze-und-klimawandel-im-
teufelskreis-der-erwaermung-1.1452223
“Die Arktis sendet uns jetzt deutliche Alarmsignale – wir können nur hoffen, dass die Menschen die Augen nicht länger davor verschließen.” oh no….. 😉
broken link?
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/eisschmelze-und-klimawandel-im-teufelskreis-der-erwaermung-1.1452223
[…] How much is that in percent? (1600 / 24,808,600) x 100 = 0.006% […]
[…] So just how bad is the Arctic ice melt this year? Listening to the alarmists you’d think the world’s ice supply was rapidly dwindling. […]
[…] If that is true, then the world has 0.006% less ice this year than in 2007. (Source). […]
[…] https://notrickszone.com/2012/08/27/oh-no-six-thousandths-of-one-percent-0-006-more-of-the-worlds-ice… […]
Your apples to oranges comparison is as ridiculous as it is stupid. The last time the Arctic Ocean experienced an ice free summer was 2 million years ago. And loss of that ice amplifies warming in the Arctic.
Sea ice melt doesn’t contribute to sea level rise. But Greenland ice melt does. Once the sea ice is gone, Greenland is next.
But you’ll be here, I’m sure, when some city or island nation was drowned by ice melt to write some stupid brutish and imbecile puff piece about why we shouldn’t worry, why the concerns of scientists are overblown, and why we should all go back to sleep.
“And loss of that ice amplifies warming in the Arctic. ”
Got any evidence for that?
[…] If you do look at volume (Antarctica and the Arctic), then there really is nothing to worry about. Global ice volume varies by only a few thousandths of a percent globally each year – even over decades. I discussed this once already not long ago HERE. […]
[…] No Tricks Zone […]