Looks like the sea ice melt has stalled.

http://igloo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/test/print.sh?fm=02&fd=27&fy=1989&sm=02&sd=27&sy=2013

Crackageddon the hive mind here notably outperforms scientific journals scientific journals (aka event obituary repositories). self-correcting independent thinking here ... can run circles too around the all-assimilating Borg. Seriously? And who are the Borg? The scientists? Those who are charged with providing defendable evidence based observation and theory? The purpose of this blog may be diametrically opposed to that of WUWT, but sometimes the comments are disturbingly similar.

Actually the lows over the UK traditionally and I think (still) currently come from the South West, i.e. the Atlantic, not from the north i.e. Greenland. Traditional UK autumn weather is gales and rain. As an aside; Is this years Greenland mass loss published? I haven't seen it yet.

As for "natural cycles", where they exist, they have causes. So which "natural cycle" is causing Arctic sea ice to reduce below that seen since before the last ice age? "Natural cycles" is not an explanation it is a symptom, every climate cycle is the result some underlying change be it orbital mechanics or solar output or something else. What is the attribution of THIS "climate cycle"

"Karl" sounds very similar to "Smokey"

Karl: Antarctic sea ice is seasonal, it melts back every year. Until now Arctic ice hasn't been.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insolation

My comment above was not meant to curtail conversation. It was merely aimed at encouraging more precise conversation/observation. So ... "I should mention that I am just a know nothing amateur on all things here as would be any citizen;" ... is not necessary. Most of us are amateurs. With regard to Enno's reference, I would suggest that the relevant criteria is the insulating properties of ice and the resulting heat flow from the different levels of insulation. Oh, and the fact that MYI is likely to be deeper into (furthest from the edge) of the ice pack.

Thanks Chris So what Lodger actually meant was that the 3rd Sept 2012 SIA has a negative anomaly of 49.54% in comparison with the 2nd Sept Daily SIA averages based on the CR (Chris R) dataset of Cryosphere Today values. Or that it is 53.25% of the '80 -'99 daily baseline value of CT SIA. AmbiValent - look up Black Swan. Wikipedia - "Juvenal's phrase was a common expression in 16th century London as a statement of impossibility. The London expression derives from the Old World presumption that all swans must be white because all historical records of swans reported that they had white feathers." etc...

I scrolled back to July, but didn't notice an "Open Thread", so I'm posting here. I like this site, I really do. I think Neven is doing a wonderful job. But the commentators, not so much. Science requires clear concise communication, ambiguity is anathema. Part of this is accomplished with common reference and language. So how about it people? Recently I've seen stuff like "Black Dragon" events, or was it "Golden King" or some other nonsense. Today I find, "CT SIA sits at 49.54% of climate level for Sep 2, 2012" What the hell is "climate level"? Given that CT are reporting for 3rd Sept, should I believe that the area has reduced by half overnight? How about less excitement, and a few more deep calming breaths?

Picture time http://igloo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/test/print.sh?fm=08&fd=27&fy=2007&sm=08&sd=27&sy=2012

Jim: I expect the lack of curvature is because ice is escaping via the Strait, not from melt. Colin: Bit of a dead herring there. Any appreciable thickness of natural ice especially with a snow covering is white. Thin translucent ice will break because of wave action.

No, not possible. The rate of descent will start to slow soon. The sun is low enough in the sky that refreeze is possible. This melt is being driven by water temperatures and it takes heat out of the water to do it.

I know it has already set the record. But area is the one to be watching. Assuming all the datasets are accurate, then extent only tells you how spread out the area is.

Yeah, politicians of all stripes should shoulder the majority of the blame. For instance on my side of the Pond, they promised the "Greenest Government Ever", ... until they got into power. Thieving lying bastards the lot of them. But, have you ever thought of what change requires? How investment, profits, pensions, wages, etc are intertwined? Assume you want to phase out oil. And replace it with solar? Where do you get the panels, how do you pay for them. Who is going to do the buying? Where is the storage technology? Who owns that? Whilst I have no sympathy for politicians, they do at least hold Damocles Sword should they chose to use it. And its about time some of them did.

Recovery? Deep sigh! Hiccup.

Hiccup

What does GRACE have to say about this?

Is the Arctic ice area going to cross the mean? http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seaice.recent.arctic.png

Or paint drying? I've said it before. Don't count chickens.

Don't count chickens, especially this early in the season. Wind patterns may change everything.

The Fat Lady has sung. Look at the colours on the CT images, the compaction/ice growth has infilled the main mass.

Apparently the deniers cannot even innovate on their own! http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/07/17/get-your-ice-here-new-wuwt-sea-ice-machine/#more-22089 Read the comments. So funny. Many along the lines of "Brilliant, Anthony, what a clever idea, you are marvellous!".

Let's not get carried away. Yes, we may be watching history happen. But those bright areas on the Cryosphere image can and do disappear when the wind changes.