Thanks for the answers everyone.
I appreciate the new info. and will go over those fully in the coming days, but before that last ice-bridge to Russia breaks through just one more random thought.
I don’t have a comparison for every year, but certainly those river watersheds involved in the western arctic had little impact on the region in 2012 compared to the same date in 2015. So did they get masses more rain this year or something, or is the Pacific Blob seeping in with warm water at the surface to make such a difference?
For many places in the world, what the main current is doing is not always the same as what the surface is doing.
The surface is the main thing here, maybe not the main ocean currents? The surface can flow in different directions than the main deep water currents, but maybe the Arctic Ocean is not deep enough for that to happen?
However, with the oceans becoming warmer the surface temps are becoming more homogenized even compared to 2012, so the differential in surface temperatures is not the same as it was even in 2012. With these more homogenized surface temperatures that the greenhouse effect will inevitably lead to, then the idea that the Pacific Blob warm water could flow over the surface of the Arctic more easily than in previous years, and in the hottest year on record so far for month to month, is not far-fetched. The main ocean currents will still be in play at depth (but weaker), but on the surface the homogeneity of temperatures between Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic will have much less differential and therefore much less forced flow in any direction, that it could mean that the warm Blob spreads right over the surface of the Arctic no problem, despite underlying currents, and the ice on on the surface will be directly affected.
I don’t think the surface temps. in any ocean are the same as they were in even 2012, and now, in 2015, the warm water from the Pacific Blob can flow over the surface much more easily than the traditional models of ocean currents would suggest.
The Pacific Blob, and the worst Albedo reflection on record, as well as the warmest month globally every month this year so far, and the arctic ice being thinner than before anyway, could all mean that this year is nothing like previous years.
Have you never seen the beginning of Water World !
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PS. I may have missed it, but is there a site that does a daily update of North Atlantic/ Eastern Arctic SURFACE water temps?
Sorry if I missed it posted, just couldn’t find it.
Thanks
Tommy