NOAA released its annual Arctic Report Card yesterday. As you might imagine, the news is that by-now-familiar mix of depressing and alarming. Among the most alarming/depressing details is that Arctic air temperatures were not particularly remarkable, but it was still a record-setting year for things like minimum Arctic sea ice.
Apart from one or two exceptions, the scientists said the air temperatures were not unusually high this year relative to the last decade. Nevertheless, they saw large changes in multiple indicators affecting Arctic climate and ecosystems; combined, these changes are strong evidence of the growing momentum of Arctic environmental system change.
Through the graphics and visuals companion document (pdf) I found this amazing time lapse (screen grab above, but I can’t embed it so you have to click through) that is meant to show the disappearance of old ice over time. What else it shows is the fascinating swirling current rendered in a way that makes the entire Arctic Ocean look like a giant amoeba under a slide. Worth a look for, among other insights, a sense of how the Arctic feeds into the North Atlantic.
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