So because the ice looks white on a satellite image, we suddenly know all there is to know about what is good or bad for the ice? And can make declarative statements about whether cloudiness is good or bad? And all the poor scientists slavering away trying to understand what is actually going on have of course missed the point.
And how did someone who claims that "insolation is not as strong at the highest latitudes" think that they can get away with talking about "warmth from the landmasses" while those same landmasses are covered in snow?
I see another condescending post from yourself towards me.
As for your first point, from what we learnt, white ice is better too see than blue ice as the melt ponds are the first signs of ice becoming vulnerable too melt. So the fact I reported on the face of it, there seems to be less signs of melt ponds than in some years so far seems a fair point to make?
As for the cloudiness argument, then there's been discussions before that cloudy weather can trap heat in but reduces insolation. Theres no doubt that cloudy weather via a cold fairly weak trough is the best weather for ice preservation but it's too simplistic that cloudy weather is always good news for the ice.
As for the insolation not the strongest at highest latitudes then Zack Labe's charts when he posts them near the Solstice suggests the suns strength is not as a strong over the pole as it is at lower latitudes in the basin for example and others on here I'm sure said this is due to the longer wavelengths but I might be wrong on that and stand corrected.
As for your last point, I don't know what your on about but snow covered land will obviously surpress temperatures, so the longer the snowcover lasts the better for the ice and it might of been partly that reason why 2017 dodged a bullet. Once the snow eventually goes though then the land heats up and it's why I say heat from high pressure ridges which edge into the basin is bad for the ice whereas a high pressure cell which forms over the basin and does not tap into any heat from the landmasses is not as bad as perhaps it looks.
Either way it's still early days and as last year shown, you can have a slow start and then a warm July comes and you still end up with a fairly low extent.
