Posted on 23 June 2018 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

2018 Arctic sea ice melt season just got a big headstart

Pack ice after sunset in East Greenland near Kulusuk. Predicting the Arctic September minimum in advance remains beyond science’s predictive capabilities. However, signs so far this year indicate the possibility for a new record low ice extent, beating 2012. Image by Markus Trienke, Flickr. 

Close, but no cigar. That assessment, though unscientific, well describes May 2018 sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean – a month some polar experts thought could be one for the record books.

At the month’s mid-point, freakishly warm weather brewed above the northern ocean. But in the end, May 2018 staggered over the finish line in second place, and far from a photo finish at 12.2 million square kilometers (4.7 million square miles). That’s 310,000 square kilometers (120,000 square miles) greater than the all time May record set in 2016.

Yet the fact that so much debate swirled around May this year is news enough, as it’s often a month overlooked by the sea ice community and by the media, with May falling between March’s winter maximum sea ice extent and September’s summer minimum. But attention is shifting as global warming escalates.

“Now, what’s happening in winter and spring is starting to become very, very interesting,” says Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center which tracks and analyzes sea ice. September, he says, is no longer the only hot topic: “We’re seeing these big heatwaves over the North Pole in the middle of winter. Wow. That’s not supposed to happen and yet [it has] the last four winters.” 

2018 Arctic sea ice melt season just got a big headstart by Gloria Dickey, Mongabay, June 19, 2018

Links posted on Facebook

Sun June 17, 2018

• New research, June 4-10, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki, Skeptical Science, June 15, 2018
• Climate Change Is Already Sparking A New Era Of Fishing Wars, Study Finds by Alexander C Kaufman, Environment, HuffPost, June 14, 2018
• Inside Exxon Mobil’s fight to stop climate change litigation in its tracks by James Osborne, Houston Chronicle, June 14, 2018
• India Increases Its Massive 2022 Renewable Energy Target By 28% by Kurt Lowder, Clean Technia, June 10, 2018
• Australian firms told to catch up on climate change risk checks by Lisa Cox, Environment, Guardian, June 17, 2018
• Antarctica has lost 3 trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years. Time is running out for the frozen continent by Steve Rintoul & Steven Chown, The Conversation AU, June 14, 2018
• Coal, Paris deal isolates U.S. from other G20 nations at energy meeting by Luc Cohen, Reuters, June 15, 2018

Mon June 18, 2018

• 4 maps that show who’s being left behind in America’s wind-power boom by Umair Irfan & Javier Zarracina, Energy & Environment, Vox, June 16, 2018
• Germany to pressure rich countries to pledge new climate cash by Megan Darby, Climate Home News, June 15, 2018
• Samsung Commits to 100 Percent Renewable Energy by 2020 by Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch, June 14, 2018
• Global warming cooks up ‘a different world’ over 3 decades by Seth Borenstein & Nicky Forester, AP News, June 18, 2018
• May 2018: Earth's 4th Warmest May on Record by Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground, June 18, 2018
• In-depth: BP’s global data for 2017 shows record highs for coal and renewables by Simon Evans, Carbon Brief, June 15, 2018
• Florida has more to lose with sea rise than anywhere else in the U.S., new study says by Alex Harris, Miami Herald, June 18, 2018
• What happened last time it was as warm as it’s going to get later this century? by Howard Lee, Ars Technica, June 18, 2018

Tue June 19, 2018

• Climate change a 'man-made problem with a feminist solution' says Robinson by Zoe Tabary, Thomson Reuters Foundation, June 18, 2018
• Here are the carbon pricing battles to watch right now by Kate Yoder, Grist, June 18, 2018
• Not just heat: Climate change signs can be seen all around by Seth Borenstein, AP News, June 19, 2018
• Winners and losers in the race to meet the Paris climate goals by Dave Keating, Deutsche Welle (DW), June 18, 2018
• Colorado Lawsuit Says Oil Companies Conspired to Deceive Public on Climate by Ucilia Wang, Climate Liability News, June 19, 2018
• Ex-Nasa scientist: 30 years on, world is failing 'miserably’ to address climate change by Oliver Milman, Environment, Guardian, June 19. 2018
• Clean energy investment ‘must be 50% higher’ to limit warming to 1.5C by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, June 18, 2018
• World Has Only 20 Years to Meet Ambitious 1.5C Warming Threshold by Chelsea Harvey, E & E News/Scientific American, June 19, 2018

Wed June 20, 2018

• Merkel says climate change is a fact, laments US stance by Frank Jordans, AP/ABC News, June 19, 2018
• How the Koch Brothers Are Killing Public Transit Projects Around the Country by Hiroko Tabuchi, Climate, New York Times, June 19, 2018
• TV Meteorologists Unite For Climate Change On The Summer Solstice by Marshall Shepard, Science, Forbes, June 19, 2018
• Underwater: Rising Seas, Chronic Floods, and the Implications for US Coastal Real Estate (2018), Union of Concerned Scientists, June, 2018
• Most American homes are still heated with fossil fuels. It’s time to electrify. by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, June 20, 2018
• Explainer: How scientists estimate ‘climate sensitivity’ by Zeke Hausfather, Carbon Brief, June 19, 2018
• Sea Level Rise Will Threaten Thousands of California Homes by Anne C Mukern, E & E News/Scientific American, June 18, 2018
• Trump’s new oceans policy washes away Obama’s emphasis on conservation and climate by David Malakof, Science, June 19, 2018

Thu June 21, 2018

• Norway wealth fund nears blacklisting greenhouse gas emitters by Camila Knudsen, Thomson Reuters Foundation, June 19, 2018
• Batteries boom enables world to get half of electricity from wind and solar by 2050, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (NEF), June 19, 2018
• Why Was My Race Relevant To A Disagreement About Climate Change?, Opinion by Marshall Shepherd, Science, Forbes, June 20, 2018
• Global warming, now brought to you by your local TV weathercaster by James Rainey, NBC News, June 20, 2018
• Judgment on Hansen's '88 climate testimony: 'He was right' by Peter Sinclair, Yale Climate Connections, June 20, 2018
• Oil and Gas Fields Leak Far More Methane than EPA Reports, Study Finds by Sabrina Shankman, InsideClimate News, June 20, 2018
• Too hot to handle: Politics of warming part of culture wars by Seth Borenstein & Steve Peoples, AP/Seattle Times, June 20, 2018
• GOP senators challenge funding for global warming education program by James Rainey, NBC News, June 20, 2018

Fri June 22, 2018

• 2018 Arctic sea ice melt season just got a big headstart by Gloria Dickey, Mongabay, June 19, 2018
• Your Morning Cup of Coffee Is in Danger. Can the Industry Adapt in Time? by Justin Worland, Time Magazine, June 21, 2018
• Climate Change Is Our Most Critical National-Security Challenge by Bill McKibben, The Nation, June 20, 2018
• 30 years ago global warming became front-page news – and both Republicans and Democrats took it seriously by Robert Brulle, The Conversation US, June 19, 2018
• OMG, the water's warm! NASA study solves glacier puzzle by Carol Rasmussen, NASA's Global Climate Change, June 21, 2018
• Thaw of Antarctic ice lifts up land, might slow sea level rise by Alister Doyle, Reuters, June 21, 2018
• Sinking Land and Climate Change Are Worsening Tidal Floods on the Texas Coast by Naveena Sadasivam, Texas Observer, June 20, 2018
• Methane leaks offset much of the climate change benefits of natural gas, study says by Steven Mufson, Business, Washington Post, June 21, 2018

Sat June 23, 2018

• Pope Francis took the climate crisis to those who can fix it: oil and gas execs, Opinion by Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Daniel J. Misleh & Daniel R. Dileo, The Hill, June 19, 2018
• EU smashes 2020 emissions target six years early by Megan Darby, Climate Home News, June 21, 2018
• More than 20 nations seek toughen climate goals by 2020 by Alister Doyle, Reuters, June 21, 2018
• Listening to James Hansen on Climate Change, Thirty Years Ago and Now by Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker Magazine, June 20, 2018
• CO2 Can Directly Impact Extreme Weather, Research Suggests by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, June 21, 2018
• Burning Wood as Renewable Energy Threatens Europe’s Climate Goals by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, June 22, 2018
• Financial Post commentary misleads about warming effect of greenhouse gas emissions by cherry-picking studies, Edited by Emmanuel A Vincent, Climate Feedback, June 22, 2018
• Exxon’s Sitting on Key Records Subpoenaed in Climate Fraud Investigation, N.Y. Says by David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News, June 22, 2018