Dr. Susan Crockford,
Even though reverse eloquence, there is still plenty of sea ice over the Arctic regions this summer, providing a food base for polar bears, ice-dependent seals and walrus cows nursing their young. Forget about whether these numbers are lower or higher than the short-term average, there are no catastrophes for Arctic cetaceans at this point.
Remember, by the beginning of summer, the young seals have left the surface of the ice and gone out to feed in the water; Carnivores-savvy adults and children dragged across broken ice change their feathers. They may look like sitting ducks but polar bears have a hard time catching them because seals are very alert and have plenty of escape routes (due to all the water being open). Most polar bears in Hudson Bay are still on ice (you’ll see why below): live cam near Churchill set to see polar bears are now showing images of crows with sea ice in the background, not bears.
This post is primarily a mid-July sea ice chart, what we in the field of science call observational evidence, aka ‘facts’. Keep in mind that the satellites used to create these images have a particularly difficult time distinguishing the ice overhead from meltwater from open water, which means that ice is much more useful. for these marine mammals. almost certainly present shown in the graph (up to 20% more in some areas).
Levels across the Arctic, NSIDC Masie
Because July 13, 2022
Canada (whole and later by region), Canadian Ice Service
Note that the zonal chart for the week of July 11 is shown here by ‘stage of development’ (ice thickness, with brown being old ice, multiyear ice and thick dark blue > 1.2m) and in the ‘coming from normal’ graph the dark blue is more than average and the red is much less.
Svalbard, Norwegian Ice Service
Chukchi / Beaufort Seas, Alaska Sea Ice Show
By stage of development and beyond, focus:
Related
