NSIDC Total Area as at 1 August (5 day trailing average) = 4,691,850 km2
This is 155 201 k above the 2010-2017 average area
Area loss (5 day average) 25k,
Extent loss (5 day average) 119k,
Total Area loss 25 K, Central Seas loss 11, Periphery loss 12 k, Other Seas loss 2 k
Analysis of individual seas.
Pacific Side
- The Bering Sea - finished,
- Chukchi Sea loss 7 k, area is now well below the 2010's average,
Atlantic Side
- Baffin Sea loss 3 k, area 55k less than 5% of 1980's average maximum,
- Greenland Sea loss 8 k,
- Barents Sea - finished,
- The Kara Sea area loss 0 k,
- The Laptev Sea area loss 5 k.
CAB
- Beaufort Sea loss 10 k,
- The Central Arctic Sea gain 30 k,
- The Canadian Archipelago loss 3 k,
- East Siberian Sea loss 15 k .
Other seas
- St Lawrence -finished,
- Hudson Bay area loss 2 k, Area now 67 k and just about at average.
- The Okhotsk Sea - finished.
On average, this is when daily area loss declines sharply This low area loss of 25 k is 45k below average this days 2010's average. The 5 day trailing average extent loss in contrast was over 119k per day for the last three days (5 day average eliminates most of the ups and downs of daily extent measures and the monthly adjustments). Extent losses are still catching up with area losses again.
Qu1. The question is - will above average area losses follow the big NSIDC daily extent losses ? Not on July 31 or August 1, that's for sure. GRAPH attached (extent minus area)
Qu2. How low will Greenland Sea Ice Area go ? If export of ice down the FRAM strait is finished for this season and that warmth keeps drifting up from the Atlantic (that blocking high from Western Europe across the Atlantic is liable to stay there for some time) then....
ps:- Another dose of reality to counter the hyperbole of recent posts ?