New Record or Not, the Arctic Sea Ice Alarm Bells Keep Ringing
Last week, the National Snow and Ice Data Center came out with the estimate that we did not quite set a record for the minimum extent of Arctic sea this year. Rather, 2011 seems to have come in a slight second to 2007.
However, another scientific group does claim that we've hit a new record. Who's right?
I don't know, but I don't think either bit of news is the most important thing to focus on. For as Skeptical Science points out, we also just learned that total sea ice volume reached a new low in 2010 (wonky hide-the-punchline paper here). And that is, to my mind, a much bigger deal than what total sea ice extent is doing on a year by year basis.
Remember, extent is a measure of area covered, and volume is a measure of total ice mass. (More clarification here.)
There is a strong case that volume matters more, because extent can be misleading. Why?
Read more: New Record or Not, the Arctic Sea Ice Alarm Bells Keep Ringing
















