Sentences with phrase «summer snow extent»

Summer snow extent is defined by snow melting at high latitudes.

Not exact matches

This year, sea ice in the Arctic reached its smallest maximum extent since satellites began tracking polar ice patterns, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, while scientists have also forecast ice - free Arctic summers in two to three decades (ClimateWire, July 16, 2013).

Consistent with observed changes in surface temperature, there has been an almost worldwide reduction in glacier and small ice cap (not including Antarctica and Greenland) mass and extent in the 20th century; snow cover has decreased in many regions of the Northern Hemisphere; sea ice extents have decreased in the Arctic, particularly in spring and summer (Chapter 4); the oceans are warming; and sea level is rising (Chapter 5).

By February, the snow cover extent was below average, which continued into early summer.

Since IPCC (2001) the cryosphere has undergone significant changes, such as the substantial retreat of arctic sea ice, especially in summer; the continued shrinking of mountain glaciers; the decrease in the extent of snow cover and seasonally frozen ground, particularly in spring; the earlier breakup of river and lake ice; and widespread thinning of antarctic ice shelves along the Amundsen Sea coast, indicating increased basal melting due to increased ocean heat fluxes in the cavities below the ice shelves.

Still, the scientists, at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., said that the extent of the ice in the Arctic this summer was 33 percent smaller than the average extent tracked since satellites started monitoring the region in 1979, and that the long - term trend is toward an ice - free summer in the Arctic Ocean within a few decades.

The point here isn't that anybody can prove that there has never been this extent of Greenland melting at some prior time in the Holocene, but that all of these indicators taken together (Arctic temperatures, low sea ice extent in summer * and * winter, permafrost melting, decreased snow cover, Greenland melting) indicate that the Arctic as a whole really is warming in an exceptional way.

The Independent story headline is a small gamble, there can be massive cloud coverage (occurring as I write) continuing from the usual great snow and ice Arctic summer melt, but I am quite sure the ice extent may be equal or less than last year come September 20.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center released its summary of summer sea - ice conditions in the Arctic on Tuesday, noting a substantial expansion of the extent of «second - year ice» — floes thick enough to have persisted through two summers of melting.

Snow extent has fallen as well, though climate denialists argue otherwise by focusing on the winter months, while ignoring the spring and summer months.

However, in a warming world, that snow will tend to melt earlier in the year, and thus we expect to see spring and summer snow cover extent decline.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center predicts this year's minimum summer sea ice extent won't break the record set in 2012.

Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, told the Guardianlast year: «The extent is going down, but it is also thinning... There will be ups and downs, but we are on track to see an ice - free summer by 2030.»

And the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSDIC) reports that the sea ice was also a full million square kilometres less than May 2012 − the year that, in September, recorded the lowest - ever summer extent.

Of course, summer extent is mostly due to how much snow doesn't melt.

Over the satellite era, the rate of spring snow loss is similar to that of late - summer Arctic sea ice extent, with each at an accelerated pace over the past decade.

For example, additional evidence of a warming trend can be found in the dramatic decrease in the extent of Arctic sea ice at its summer minimum (which occurs in September), decrease in spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere, increases in the global average upper ocean (upper 700 m or 2300 feet) heat content (shown relative to the 1955 — 2006 average), and in sea - level rise.

The study adds to the evidence showing that the free - fall in summer sea ice extent and even sharper decline in spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is reverberating throughout the atmosphere, making extreme events more likely to occur.

The average surface air temperature for the year ending September 2017 is the 2nd warmest since 1900; however, cooler spring and summer temperatures contributed to a rebound in snow cover in the Eurasian Arctic, slower summer sea ice loss, and below - average melt extent for the Greenland ice sheet.

Summer extent is defined by snow melting at high latitudes.

Further, there has been an almost worldwide reduction in glacial mass and extent in the 20th century; melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet has recently become apparent; snow cover has decreased in many Northern Hemisphere regions; sea ice thickness and extent have decreased in the Arctic in all seasons, most dramatically in spring and summer; the oceans are warming; and sea level is rising due to thermal expansion of the oceans and melting of land ice