What's Going On with the Arctic Ocean?

The diehard, global warming denialists like to point out that 2008 has been an unusually cold year - ergo proof that global warming doesn't exist. Of course they know better, even complete dolts realize the difference between weather and climate, but that doesn't stop them. They just ignore reality because it gets in the way of their lunatic rants.

One thing they don't like to get into is what happened with the Arctic sea ice this summer. Thanks to la Nina conditions in the central Pacific we had below average summer temperatures. Those weather conditions, however, didn't seem to make much difference to the sea ice. In fact, the melt this year was second only to last year when the Arctic experienced a heat wave.

So, what gives? Climate change is what gives. The dwindling sea ice cover means more dark, open water surface to soak up the sun's heat. Scientists are also reporting an increase in the flow of warmer ocean waters from the Atlantic and Pacific.

The ice that is rebuilding is rookie ice, one year ice just a metre thick. Gone is the multi-year ice that covered the region in a thick blanket for the past million years or more. The last traces of the multi-year ice are what remains on Greenland and jammed up against Canada's Arctic islands.

The radical changes in Arctic ice patterns come at the same time as scientists have discovered methane chimneys bubbling to the surface from the Arctic Ocean floor.

Climate affects weather just as weather has a limited impact on climate but, right now, it's climate that's driving the record changes in the Arctic, overwhelming the influences of weather.