Global sea ice returns to 1979 levels

Posted on January 17, 2009 by Les Jones

Daily Tech – Sea Ice Ends Year at Same Level as 1979:

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards.

The data is being reported by the University of Illinois’s Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions.

Each year, millions of square kilometers of sea ice melt and refreeze. However, the mean ice anomaly — defined as the seasonally-adjusted difference between the current value and the average from 1979-2000, varies much more slowly. That anomaly now stands at just under zero, a value identical to one recorded at the end of 1979, the year satellite record-keeping began.

Previously

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4 Responses to Global sea ice returns to 1979 levels

  1. Alex says:
    January 17, 2009 at 8:28 pm

    I dropped by a local SunTrust branch day before yesterday to cash a check and the brief conversation inevitably turned to the weather.

    Commented, “Where’s that global warming we’ve been promised?” which garnerned snickers from staff and other customers waiting in line.

    Someone behind me offered: “Where’s Algore when you really need him?”

    I suspect his mansion in Belle Meade is still burning incredible amounts of energy and that his thermostat isn’t set at an ecogreen 65°.

    Not that he’d notice…he’s likely burning fuel on his private jet, heading somewhere “important” to condemn us commonfolk for wasting electricity and natural gas to keep our frickin’ pipes from freezing.

  2. Lisa says:
    January 17, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    It’s colder than cold in Iowa but I’m not going to pretend to be a scientist and debate global warming or cooling. I’ll just keep doing what I can do to take care of the portions of the planet I use, pick up my litter, save some energy where I can and only use hairspray on Tuesdays and Fridays. ha! (that last part was a joke but really, we could all stand to improve our impact on the environment I bet)

    Lisa´s last blog post..Leaving Blogger today if it kills us both.. and it…

  3. Heartless Libertarian says:
    January 18, 2009 at 11:49 am

    And in 1979, the big scare was global cooling.

  4. Les Jones says:
    January 18, 2009 at 11:59 am

    HL, you’re right. I had forgotten about that.