2007-03-29 Bethel and the YK Delta is the spot just right and up from the center of the image. It is easier to see on the larger image. The perspective here is almost vertical above Beringea (where Russia and the US almost touch). In winter, the purple/maroon color is sea ice and the white is snow-covered land. Unless one has a variety of color-blindness; I’m not sure what contrasts there would be.
2007-04-03 Watch the patch of grey over the YK Delta expand as our top layer of recent snow melts back.
This is a pretty map of the sea ice concentration in the Bering Sea (updated). Go to the original to get a larger, zoomable view
Lots of other neat stuff from the cryosphere (north and south), including the detailed ice conditions. They also have the archived data and maps to show the changes in sea ice over the years.
This website is a portal to recent research related to Arctic climate and climate change at the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois.
See also for current conditions
- Sea Ice Analysis http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/ice.php?img=ice
and the references here
- Explore the Cryosphere
http://www.farnorthscience.com/ 2007/03/12/home/explore-the-cryosphere/
Site Search Tags: ice+pack, climate+change, maps, real+time, Bering+Sea
Where is Bethel??
Ok, I found it!
It’s only a handful of weeks since winter 2008 started and already there are ice problems. This is in the area of oil and gas production.
The CBC Northern News reported
“Huge fracture in Beaufort Sea ice pack worries scientists
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 15, 2008
CBC News
A massive fracture discovered this winter in the Beaufort Sea ice pack could be a sign of things to come as climate change continues to warm the Arctic, according to a leading climate researcher.
The fracture, first discovered in December, occurred in the Beaufort ice pack off the west coast of Banks Island in the Northwest Territories.”
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/01/15/science-beaufort-ice.html
View this and all the images here (pretty frightening even if one isn’t on the Chukchi Sea.) http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/App/WsvPageDsp.cfm?id=11892&Lang=eng
http://ice-glaces.ec.gc.ca/content_contenu/SIE/Beaufort/ANIM-BE2007-FR.gif