On Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at 12:44:58 PM UTC, Alastair wrote:
On Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at 9:12:30 AM UTC, JohnD wrote:
Looks like it will take a major reversal of the present downward trend for
the 2015 maximum now to get back close even to the -2SD envelope. Still
possible of course and 2-3 weeks to go to be sure, but looking unlikely..
Nothing more than a curiosity for now (and no suggestions otherwise).

A record low maximum is hardly a mere curiosity. See:
http://neven1.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f...75b5ce0970b-pi

At the Royal Society meeting last November it was reported that the September Arctic sea ice minimum was related to the extent of the melt ponds in Spring. Therefore the albedo early in the year controls the ice extent in the autumn. This is a positive feedback process with low albedo early in the season causing even lower albedo later.

We could well see a catastrophic melt this summer.

Here is another chart which shows how dire the situation is:
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ch...sea-ice-graph/

It has never been this low and recovered. Let's hope I am wrong.