Sea Ice update

Since the Arctic peak for sea ice is approaching and I haven't done one of these in a while so I thought I give one.

Arctic:   No time to panic.   Despite the screams of despair from the CCAs (Climate Change Alarmists) about the record (satellite era only) low extent last summer, it's now above average for the 21st century extents.  The area which is contributing primarily to the below long term average is the Barent Sea.  Regarding the record low, there was a study showing that a powerful storm in the arctic last summer broke up the ice sheet somewhat and scattered the pieces which accelerated the melt.   For graphs and maps, see the Sea Ice Data sidebar or see the WUWT reference page here.

Antarctic:  Time to celebrate, but if only you like ice.   The Antarctic sea is approaching it's annual minimum and it's looking like it will finish close to a record HIGH level.   Again taken with a grain of salt being that it's the satellite record only.   However the Southern Oceans Sea Surface temperatures have been lower than average for a number of years (map courtesy of Bob Tisdale).