http://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icecover.uk.php

In mid-August, the winds kicked up in the Arctic and pushed the ice edge to the north – causing great joy amongst people wanting to claim Arctic Armageddon.

The joy was so great that someone at NOAA rushed to press the incorrect claim that ice was second lowest on record, along with a bogus map. (The map has since been corrected.)

What they apparently didn’t realize is the the late movement of the ice edge left a lot of cold water where the edge had been in mid-August. Thus it didn’t take much for the water in that region to freeze once the wind stopped. Now we are seeing a very rapid increase back towards 2005 levels. Ice extent has grown 30% since this date in 2007.

The bad news is that the PR damage has been done. The press is full of stories again that the Arctic has nearly all melted at -15C. Yet another example of CO2 changing the fundamental properties of water.

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/images/fnl/sfctmp_01.fnl.gif

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the the universe.” —  Albert Einstein