In June 2018, Arctic ice extent held up against previous years despite the Pacific basins of Bering and Okhotsk being ice-free.  The Arctic core is showing little change, perhaps due to increased thickness (volume) as reported by DMI.

The image above shows ice extents on day 195 (July 14) for years 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2018. Note this year ice is strong on both Russian and N. American sides.  Beaufort Sea and Canadian Archipelago are solid. E. Siberian and Chukchi Seas are also solid, despite early melting in Bering Sea.

The graph below shows how the Arctic extent has faired in July compared to the 11 year average and to some years of interest.

Note that 2018 started July well above the 11 year average and other recent years.  As of day 195 (yesterday) ice extent is still greater than average and the years 2007 and 2017.  SII 2018 is trackingwell below MASIE this month, a gap of 500k km2 at this point.

The table below shows ice extents by regions comparing 2018 with 11-year average (2007 to 2017 inclusive) and 2017.

2018 is 280k km2 above average, mostly due to Baffin and Hudson bays with surplus ice.  BCE (Beaufort, East Siberian and Chukchi) are also solid.  Laptev, Greenland Sea and Central Arctic (European side) are down, more than offset by surpluses elsewhere.  Of course, Baffin and Hudson Bays will melt out soon, so the eventual 2018 minimum remains to be seen.

via Science Matters

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July 15, 2018 at 09:35AM