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Monday, August 2, 2010

Ok, so are we gonna call the Northwest Passage open, or not?

Ok, so are we gonna call the Northwest Passage open, or not?

Sorry, folks, the site where I get these images did not provide any for the last days of July, but now don't you think we can call it open?

Image from August 2, 2010 (click on image to enlarge):

5 comments:

Lisa Geoffrion said...

Have we hit a record low? I know that we were close.

Tenney Naumer said...

Arctic sea ice hit a record low volume some time ago. Extent has been a fairly useless number for the past 5 years, especially since any area above 15% ice is counted. Nevertheless, we are headed for a record low extent.

ccpo said...

In my opinion it's been navigable, both west and east, for a couple weeks. There's been plenty of space between the floes to get through, particularly for any double-hulled or particularly strong hulls - or patient captains.

Cheers

Tenney Naumer said...

I'm sure you are right, but I couldn't get the graphics.

No one seems to have mentioned this.

Why is that?

ccpo said...

I'd had the same thought once or twice. I suspect the scientists want it to be unambiguous.