I remember about three years ago, various news sources were reporting a
mile-wide stretch of open water at 90 °N around this time in 2000.

With temperatures in the 70's (F) as far as northern Russia in some places
with this heatwave in Europe, does anyone know of the status of the pole
this year, and in the intervening years?

Is there a website that monitors the activity of ice and weather there? I
know that temperatures up in the 70s in the summer aren't all that unusual
along the rim, but I'm curious to know of the temps at the pole itself.

Larry

Try The National Ice Center at www.natice.noaa.gov/mainone.htm
Geoff

Larry G wrote:
I remember about three years ago, various news sources were reporting a
mile-wide stretch of open water at 90 °N around this time in 2000.

With temperatures in the 70's (F) as far as northern Russia in some places
with this heatwave in Europe, does anyone know of the status of the pole
this year, and in the intervening years?

Is there a website that monitors the activity of ice and weather there? I
know that temperatures up in the 70s in the summer aren't all that unusual
along the rim, but I'm curious to know of the temps at the pole itself.

Larry

In article ,
"Larry G" wrote:

I remember about three years ago, various news sources were reporting a
mile-wide stretch of open water at 90 °N around this time in 2000.

With temperatures in the 70's (F) as far as northern Russia in some places
with this heatwave in Europe, does anyone know of the status of the pole
this year, and in the intervening years?

Is there a website that monitors the activity of ice and weather there? I
know that temperatures up in the 70s in the summer aren't all that unusual
along the rim, but I'm curious to know of the temps at the pole itself.

Having spent almost 11 months in Alert, I am interested in the
weather up that way. From what i have seen of Alert, it has been a
rather cool summer, although I just checked now and at 2000Z today,
Alert was +14!

One site you can check is http://psc.apl.washington.edu/northpole/index.html

I managed to get on a First Air Twin Otter flight to the Pole when I
was up there! The groups there were doing extensive research on the ice
up there, and still are. I think they end their research next year.

Check out the link - lots of info there on what they have done.



Pete

"Larry G" wrote in message ...
I remember about three years ago, various news sources were reporting a
mile-wide stretch of open water at 90 °N around this time in 2000.

With temperatures in the 70's (F) as far as northern Russia in some places
with this heatwave in Europe, does anyone know of the status of the pole
this year, and in the intervening years?

Is there a website that monitors the activity of ice and weather there? I
know that temperatures up in the 70s in the summer aren't all that unusual
along the rim, but I'm curious to know of the temps at the pole itself.

Larry

Here's a Reuters story about this very topic. The url for the study
page is http://www.nersc.no/AICSEX/.


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...ews&storyID=32
70708

Arctic Ice Shrinking
Due To Global Warming
8-13-3

OSLO (Reuters) -- Global warming will melt most of the Arctic icecap
in
summertime by the end of the century, a report showed Wednesday.

The three-year international study indicated that ice around the North
Pole
had shrunk by 7.4 percent in the past 25 years with a record small
summer
coverage in September 2002.

"The summer ice cover in the Arctic may be reduced by 80 percent at
the end
of the 21st century," said Norwegian Professor Ola Johannessen, the
main
author of the report funded by the European Commission.

The Arctic Barents Sea north of Russia and Norway could be free of ice
even
in winter by the end of the century, said Johannesssen, who works at
the
Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway.

"This will make it easier to explore for oil, it could open the
Northern Sea
Route (between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans)," he said of the
report,
dubbed the Arctic Ice Cover Simulation Experiment.

Moscow and Norway reckon the Barents Sea could be a promising new area
for
oil and gas. The Northern Sea passage could save shippers about 10
days on a
trip from Japan to Europe compared to traveling through the Suez
Canal.

Johannessen said that the report, published on the Internet ahead of
peer
review, also indicated that a recent thinning of the polar icecap was
linked
to human emissions of gases like carbon dioxide blamed for blanketing
the
planet.

But the study showed a thinning of the icecap from 1920-1940 was
caused by
natural climate fluctuations, such as ocean currents and winds, rather
than
by a build-up of greenhouse gases.

Johannessen said the new survey added to evidence of a gradual
thinning of
the icecap and gave firmer signs that human emissions, such as
exhausts from
cars and factories, were mainly to blame.

Climate experts say that polar areas are heating up more than other
regions.

"Pete Ware" wrote in message ...
In article ,
"Larry G" wrote:

I remember about three years ago, various news sources were reporting a
mile-wide stretch of open water at 90 °N around this time in 2000.

With temperatures in the 70's (F) as far as northern Russia in some
places
with this heatwave in Europe, does anyone know of the status of the pole
this year, and in the intervening years?

Is there a website that monitors the activity of ice and weather there?
I
know that temperatures up in the 70s in the summer aren't all that
unusual
along the rim, but I'm curious to know of the temps at the pole itself.

Having spent almost 11 months in Alert, I am interested in the
weather up that way. From what i have seen of Alert, it has been a
rather cool summer, although I just checked now and at 2000Z today,
Alert was +14!

One site you can check is
http://psc.apl.washington.edu/northpole/index.html

I managed to get on a First Air Twin Otter flight to the Pole when I
was up there! The groups there were doing extensive research on the ice
up there, and still are. I think they end their research next year.

Check out the link - lots of info there on what they have done.

How interesting. That must have been a great experience. Thanks for the
info.

Larry

"Dr. Zomb" wrote in message ...
Here's a Reuters story about this very topic. The url for the study
page is http://www.nersc.no/AICSEX/.

[...]

Thanks everyone for the info.

Larry