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Ice Season begins in Ukraine

The London P&I Club informs that its Correspondent in Ukraine, Dias Marine Consulting, reports that the ice season has begun in the Azov Sea area and advises that when a vessel is planning to call at a Ukrainian port it will be “necessary to liaise with the agent and clarify more precise information about the weather conditions on the date of ETA”.

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Arctic sea ice reaches fourth lowest minimum

 According to the National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) On September 11, Arctic sea ice reached its likely minimum extent for 2015. The minimum ice extent was the fourth lowest in the satellite record, and reinforces the long-term downward trend in Arctic ice extent. Sea ice extent will now begin its seasonal increase through autumn and winter. In the Antarctic, sea ice extent is average, a substantial contrast with recent years when Antarctic winter extents reached record high levels.Please note that this is a preliminary announcement. Changing winds or late-season melt could still reduce the Arctic ice extent, as happened in 2005 and 2010. NSIDC scientists will release a full analysis of the Arctic melt season, and discuss the Antarctic winter sea ice growth, in early October.On September 11, 2015, sea ice extent dropped to 4.41 million square kilometers (1.70 million square miles), the fourth lowest minimum in the satellite record. This appears to be the lowest extent of the year. In response to the setting sun and falling temperatures, ice extent will now climb through autumn and winter. However, a shift in wind patterns or a period of late season melt could still push the ice extent lower.The minimum ...

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Steady decline in Arctic sea ice extent

 According to the National Snow & Ice data Center (NSIDC), August saw a remarkably steady decline in Arctic sea ice extent, at a rate slightly faster than the long-term average. Forecasts show that this year’s minimum sea ice extent, which typically occurs in mid to late September, is likely to be the third or fourth lowest in the satellite record. All four of the lowest extents have occurred since 2007. In mid-August, Antarctic sea ice extent began to trend below the 1981 to 2010 average for the first time since November 2011.Overview of conditionsAverage sea ice extent for August 2015 was 5.61 million square kilometers (2.16 million square miles), the fourth lowest August extent in the satellite record. This is 1.61 million square kilometers (621,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 average for the month, and 900,000 square kilometers (350,000 square miles) above the record low for August, set in 2012.The rapid pace of daily ice loss seen in late July 2015 slowed somewhat in August. The pace increased slightly toward the end of the month, so that by August 31 Arctic sea ice extent was only slightly greater than on the same date in 2007 and 2011. The ...

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Warming seas and melting ice sheets

 Sea level rise is a natural consequence of the warming of our planet.  We know this from basic physics. When water heats up, it expands. So when the ocean warms, sea level rises. When ice is exposed to heat, it melts. And when ice on land melts and water runs into the ocean, sea level rises.For thousands of years, sea level has remained relatively stable and human communities have settled along the planet's coastlines. But now Earth's seas are rising. Globally, sea level has risen about eight inches (20 centimeters) since the beginning of the 20th century and more than two inches (5 centimeters) in the last 20 years alone. All signs suggest that this rise is accelerating. While NASA and other agencies continue to monitor the warming of the ocean and changes to the planet's land masses, the biggest concern is what will happen to the ancient ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica, which continue to send out alerts that a warming planet is affecting their stability."Given what we know now about how the ocean expands as it warms and how ice sheets and glaciers are adding water to the seas, it's pretty certain we are locked into at least 3 ...

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