
Record low sea ice extent in the Chukchi Sea - jesperlang
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2017/12/record-low-extent-in-the-chukchi-sea/
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niftich
The Chukchi Sea is directly north of the Bering Strait. Choice excerpt,
spacing added:

> _We also suggested a possible role of a strong oceanic heat inflow to the
> Chukchi Sea via Bering Strait._

> _In support of this view, in the summer of 2017, Rebecca Woodgate of the
> University of Washington, Seattle, sailing on the research vessel Norseman
> II, recovered mooring data that indicated an early arrival of warm ocean
> water in the strait, about a month earlier than the average. This resulted
> in June ocean temperatures that were 3 degrees Celsius (5 degrees
> Fahrenheit) above average._

> _Higher ocean temperatures in summer plays a large role in the timing of
> when the ice will form again in winter. There is likely a considerable
> amount of heat remaining in the top layer of the ocean, which will need to
> be lost to the atmosphere and outer space before the region becomes fully
> ice covered._

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sparkzilla
Just a reminder: When floating ice melts in water the level of the water does
not rise.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOCqHRpQh88](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOCqHRpQh88)

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yters
He's not wrong. Why the down votes?

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adrr
He isn't right.

[https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevelclimate.html](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevelclimate.html)

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downvote_me
The commend says 'floating ice' the link you point at says 'ice on land'. The
commender is 100% right but apparently the HN crowd has a lot of people that
just love to downvote (which is why downvoting should be banned).

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Oletros
The link the op points says:

"First, as the oceans warm due to an increasing global temperature, seawater
expands—taking up more space in the ocean basin and causing a rise in water
level."

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yters
The ice melting is not the cause of seawater warming. Ice melt may indicate
seawater warming, but the OP is correct that in itself it does not affect sea
levels.

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dragonwriter
Actually, because sea ice has a different albedo than exposed sea water [0],
sea ice melting is a significant cause of seawater warming (seawater warming
is also, of course, a cause of sea ice melting; this is a classic positive
feedback loop.)

[0]
[https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/seaice/processes/albedo.html](https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/seaice/processes/albedo.html)

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yters
Yes, the sea water absorbing more sunlight due to lack of reflecting ice could
cause it to warm significantly. But this is indirectly caused by sea ice
melting, and a more speculative connection between ice melt and water levels
rising. Furthermore, I'd like to see hard numbers, since most of sea ice is
under water and does not reflect sunlight.

