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http://www.dailytech.com/Article.aspx?newsid=13834

Science
 Sea Ice Ends Year at Same Level as 1979

Michael Asher (Blog) - January 1, 2009 11:31 AM

Rapid growth spurt leaves amount of ice at levels seen 29 years ago.


Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal
those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly
recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September
onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards.

The data is being reported by the University of Illinois's Arctic Climate
Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and
Southern hemisphere polar regions.

Each year, millions of square kilometers of sea ice melt and refreeze. However,
the mean ice anomaly -- defined as the seasonally-adjusted difference between
the current value and the average from 1979-2000, varies much more slowly. That
anomaly now stands at just under zero, a value identical to one recorded at the
end of 1979, the year satellite record-keeping began.

Sea ice is floating and, unlike the massive ice sheets anchored to bedrock in
Greenland and Antarctica, doesn't affect ocean levels. However, due to its
transient nature, sea ice responds much faster to changes in temperature or
precipitation and is therefore a useful barometer of changing conditions.

Earlier this year, predictions were rife that the North Pole could melt
entirely in 2008. Instead, the Arctic ice saw a substantial recovery. Bill
Chapman, a researcher with the UIUC's Arctic Center, tells DailyTech this was
due in part to colder temperatures in the region. Chapman says wind patterns
have also been weaker this year. Strong winds can slow ice formation as well as
forcing ice into warmer waters where it will melt.

Why were predictions so wrong? Researchers had expected the newer sea ice,
which is thinner, to be less resilient and melt easier. Instead, the thinner
ice had less snow cover to insulate it from the bitterly cold air, and
therefore grew much faster than expected, according to the National Snow and
Ice Data Center.

In May, concerns over disappearing sea ice led the U.S. to officially list the
polar bear a threatened species, over objections from experts who claimed the
animal's numbers were increasing.

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