Is There Summer Ice at the North Pole?

[Greg Bernhardt]

I'm trying to find information on whether there has been summer ice at the North Pole the last few years. I've found a couple old articles that indicate scientists predicted no summer ice. Did this in fact happen and is it predicted again for this coming summer? Does that mean the North Pole is open water in summer?

 

[turbo]

The pole is never ice-free, though the margins of the ice-cap are progressively receding.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

To date, the North Pole has always had pack ice since satellite observations began in 1979, but leads (open water) can occur almost anywhere in the ice pack. These are local and transient. You can see satellite data on the polar ice caps (updated daily) at:

http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/.

EDIT: As far as predictions go, recent years have seen record lows in the minimum summer Arctic ice area, the record being set in 2007. I don't think specific year to year reliable predictions are possible as to the actual future extent of the summer pack ice.

http://articles.cnn.com/2007-09-11/tech/arctic.ice.cover_1_sea-ice-national-snow-mark-serreze?_s=PM:TECH

 

[Evo]

Yes there is summer ice. Under this paragraph, you will see the map for summer, it is the September map which reflects the entire summer's melting. There are additional yearly maps farther down.

Ice thickness, its spatial extent, and the fraction of open water within the ice pack can vary rapidly and profoundly in response to weather and climate. Sea ice typically covers about 14 to 16 million square kilometers in late winter in the Arctic and 17 to 20 million square kilometers in the Antarctic Southern Ocean. On average, the seasonal decrease is much larger in the Antarctic, with only about 3 to 4 million square kilometers remaining at summer's end, compared to approximately 7 million square kilometers in the Arctic. Over the past several years, Arctic minima have been only 4 to 6 million square kilometers. These maps provide examples of late winter and late summer ice cover in the two hemispheres.

http://nsidc.org/sotc/sea_ice.html

 

[Nik_2213]

Thanks for that link ! I lost it some months ago during an over-aggressive culling of 'favourites'...

 

[Borek]

I'm trying to find information on whether there has been summer ice at the North Pole

Already planning Summer trip?

 

[turbo]

Already planning Summer trip?

Yay! Hopefully not expecting penguins.

 

[Phu]

Just came across this. Check out this picture taken by a guy who flew his plane to the North Pole in July of 2011. For the record...I think he is nuts!

http://flytheimpossible.com/adventures/north-pole-2011/day-15-north-pole-flight-i/#