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Why did the Arctic sea ice fare so well in 2008 when CO2 levels in the atmosphere are supposedly so high?

September 24, 2008 Arctic sea ice begins autumn freeze-up Arctic sea ice extent, after reaching its seasonal minimum last week, has begun its annual cyclical increase in response to the setting sun. A cooler melt season, retention of first-year ice, and dispersive ice motion set the 2008 melt season apart from 2007. High retention of first-year ice Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the 2008 melt season was the higher-than-average retention of first-year sea ice (see earlier entries, including April 7). Relatively thin first-year ice is more prone to melting out completely than older, thicker ice. However, more of this year’s first-year ice survived the melt season than is typical. Sea ice age maps from Sheldon Drobot, our colleague at the University of Colorado at Boulder, show that much more first-year ice survived in 2008 than in 2007. This is one of the reasons that 2008 did not break last year's record-low minimum. One cause of the high first-year ice survival rate was that this summer was cooler than in 2007. Lower temperatures slowed the melt rate in the early part of the season. While conditions in August favored rapid ice loss, they were not enough to make up for this early-season "cushion." Furthermore, much of this year's first-year ice was located at higher latitudes than in 2007, covering even the geographic North Pole. Regions that are far north have lower melt rates because they receive less solar energy than more southerly regions. http://www.nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ Some of you Warmers have your blinders on. Did you even read the article? The thrust of the article is that the Arctic sea ice made a recovery since 2007. I know that some of you may have cringed to see that, but the fact of the matter is that the Arctic sea ice has increased..... SHEESH! Stop being in denial.... Please!

Public Comments

1. Fare well? the second lowest extent since recording satellite imagery? I had "in history," but as someone pointed out - this is not right. The "in history" statement can't really be proven. http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/seaice.html "Summary - The continued significant reduction in the extent of the summer sea ice cover is a dramatic illustration of the pronounced impact increased global temperatures are having on the Arctic regions. There has also been a significant reduction in the relative amount of older, thicker ice. Extent and thickness - Satellite-based passive microwave images of the sea ice cover have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the extent of the Arctic ice cover since 1979. During 2008 the summer minimum ice extent, observed in September, reached 4.7 million km2 (Fig. S1, right panel). While slightly above the record minimum of 4.3 million km2, set just a year earlier in September 2007 (Fig. S1, left panel), the 2008 summer minimum further reinforces the strong negative trend in summertime ice extent observed over the past thirty years. " The link has the entire article. Actually, your link is very good, but your interpretation of the information shows the lack of any scientific background (or the unwillingness to use it if you actually have some training).
2. Maybe the heavy hydrothermal vents along the Gakkel Ridge, the world's slowest spreading mid-ocean have eased their activity since they were discovered in 2003 by a scientific expedition researching the artic sea floor in the region of the ridge.
3. Could be that the greenshirt focus on CO2 is misguided?
4. so are we changing our tune from "Cooling began in 1998" to "Cooling started in 2008"? maybe you need to learn to separate weather from climate. but not to worry, you most certainly have lots of company in that respect.
5. By "fare so well" do you mean experienced the greatest melt (in terms of volume) in recorded history? "preliminary data indicates that 2008 probably represents the lowest volume of Arctic sea ice on record, partly because less multiyear ice is surviving now, and the remaining ice is so thin.” I think it's a little silly to call a record melt "faring well".
6. Sorry but the CO2 has nothing to do with it. The plants ,all plants recycle the CO2 to oxygen. The plants have done a great job. About the ice,there are 2 kinds of ice up there. The fresh water that freezes at 32 deg. F... Then the sea ice which freezes at 26 deg. F.
7. Did you even look at your own link? It said that arctic sea ice volume was probably the lowest on record! You do understand what that means, don't you? Worst year for arctic sea ice since they started taking measurements! It's like you're looking at a starving person and comment on how well they're doing, since they're still able to eat.
8. Funny thing is, this year saw increased retention of first year ice over last year, but the amount of older, thicker ice continues to plummet, thinning even during the winter months. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7692963.stm From the article: "The extent can change because the ice can be redistributed, increasing the amount of open water," he told BBC News. "But this does not reduce the overall amount of ice." "I think this is the first time that we can definitively say that the bulk overall volume of ice has decreased," observed Dr Laxon. "About five years ago, the average projection for the sea ice disappearing was about 2080. "But the ice minimums, and this evidence of melting, suggests that we should favour the models that suggest the sea ice will disappear by 2030-2040.