Good news from the arctic:
Last year the melt of the arctic ice cap was extreme. It was the smallest amount of residual ice ever. Apparently this was caused by an unusual, violent and persistent storm early in the season. It was different this year. (Lauren Morello Summer Storms Boster Arctic Ice NATURE vol. 500 no. 7464 August 19, 2013 page 512) This time the storms added snow and ice.
The experts are quick to point out that this is only a temporary reprieve. Warming is expected to continue and arctic ice expected to continue to decline. But what I find cheerful is that those looking at it are seeing more of what I am seeing. The fact that when the ice melts dark water is exposed to the sunlight causing more melting has been recognized for some time. Now at last there is a mention that the increased energy from such light absorption means an increase in the storms over the pole. It it was mentioned before, then I missed it.
What I continue to miss from the people who almost surely know about it is that by the time the ice is all gone there will be more energy being absorbed in the Arctic Ocean during a few weeks in September than anywhere else on earth. It seems to me that this invites a complete reversal of the air flow pattern in the northern hemisphere. The upshot is beyond me, although it seems to me that there could be real problems, like overnight glaciers. The experts have not come up with an opinion on the point, but they draw ever closer.
That is a good thing.
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