That said, this drop highlights how the change in the quality of the ice is changing how the melt season progresses.

It is less about extent and area.

It is more about age, thickness and volume.

Most of the ice that's appeared this year in the Barents and Bering above and beyond what wasn't there the last few years is barely coherent, and doesn't have any ability to resist weather.

It will likely vanish like morning mist on a hot spring day.



... I also don't like all the yellow I'm seeing in this graphic. That concentration is a lot lower than I'd like.

Re Bremen image and Beaufort.

It didn't look so bad on the 19th compared to 22nd.

I wonder is it sensor related or is that Beaufort thinning real ?

RE revisiting the upthread discussion on crummy looking ice in the Beaufort Sea:ArcticMelt2 ( https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,2888.msg236503.html#msg236503 pointed out this study from August 2018 that seems relevant to the recent Beaufort observations:BY MARY-LOUISE TIMMERMANS, JOHN TOOLE, RICHARD KRISHFIELDSCIENCE ADVANCES29 AUG 2018 : EAAT6773"AbstractArctic Ocean measurements reveal a near doubling of ocean heat content relative to the freezing temperature in the Beaufort Gyre halocline over the past three decades (1987–2017). This warming is linked to anomalous solar heating of surface waters in the northern Chukchi Sea, a main entryway for halocline waters to join the interior Beaufort Gyre. Summer solar heat absorption by the surface waters has increased fivefold over the same time period, chiefly because of reduced sea ice coverage. It is shown that the solar heating, considered together with subduction rates of surface water in this region, is sufficient to account for the observed halocline warming. Heat absorption at the basin margins and its subsequent accumulation in the ocean interior, therefore, have consequences for Beaufort Gyre sea ice beyond the summer season."Some images copied from the Timmermans et al study:A press story about the Timmermans et al 2018 study is at"The upper ocean in the Canadian Basin has seen a two-fold increase in heat content over the past 30 years, the researchers said. They traced the source to waters hundreds of miles to the south, where reduced sea ice has left the surface ocean more exposed to summer solar warming. In turn, Arctic winds are driving the warmer water north, but below the surface waters."This means the effects of sea-ice loss are not limited to the ice-free regions themselves, but also lead to increased heat accumulation in the interior of the Arctic Ocean that can have climate effects well beyond the summer season," Timmermans said. "Presently this heat is trapped below the surface layer. Should it be mixed up to the surface, there is enough heat to entirely melt the sea-ice pack that covers this region for most of the year." "Related press article atFinally this one (abstract only unless you have paywall access)