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At the beginning of August JAXA/ViSHOP extent is 3rd lowest for the date in the satellite era:
In 2012 extent had just started its unprecedented plunge towards the record September minimum, and 2024 seems certain to cross above the 2012 curve shortly. However, the latest AMSR2 sea ice concentration map from the Alfred Wegener Institute reveals areas of open water across the majority of the Central Arctic Basin:
In particular the sea ice between the North Pole and northern Greenland is remarkably fragmented:
There is a currently a persistent low pressure area over the Central Arctic, but it’s nowhere near as deep as 2012’s “Great Arctic Cyclone“:
There is another low over the Bering Sea, which is bringing rain and hence heat to the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, so there is plenty of potential for further rapid losses of sea ice. Will 2024 be able to keep up with the rate of decline in 2012?
Watch this space!
